Martine Wiltshire is a member of the Great Britain women’s sitting volleyball team
A survivor of the 7 July suicide bomb attacks has described trying to stand up to help fellow Tube passengers only to find his leg had been blown off.
Andrew Brown told an inquest he noticed his “leg had gone” after blacking out for 15 minutes on a Circle Line train at Aldgate station in 2005.
Another passenger – Martine Wiltshire – told how she lost both her legs and three-quarters of her blood.
The inquests into the 52 deaths are expected to take up to five months.
Mr Brown was standing a few feet from suicide bomber Shehzad Tanweer when his device exploded killing seven people, the inquest heard.
‘Loud heavy thud’
He was working at John Lennon Airport in Liverpool at the time, and had travelled to London for a meeting in Westminster.
He said he saw a very distinct yellow flash and heard a loud heavy thud, to awake 15 minutes later lying on a window frame halfway out of the carriage.
At first he thought he had been electrocuted as he was unable to move, he told the inquest.
“As soon as I was conscious, I became aware of people moaning and calling for help,” he said.
“At the time I wasn’t feeling any pain. I felt as if I was fine and I tried to stand up to help them and at that point I just fell forward into the debris.
CLICKABLE Find out more about the victims of the Aldgate bomb attack.
Lee Baisden
Age: 34
Mr Baisden was standing right next to the bomber Shehzad Tanweer. The accountant worked for the London Fire & Emergency Planning Authority and had recently set up home with his boyfriend, but also spent a lot of time looking after his widowed mother. He travelled to Liverpool Street from Romford, Essex, and got on the Circle line through Aldgate on his way to work in Westminster.
Richard Gray
Age: 41
Mr Gray was a tax accountant who commuted to London from Ipswich. He was married with two children. One friend described him as “a gentleman of modest disposition, charm, courtesy and subtle humour and above all he was a family man”. Mr Gray was standing opposite Shehzad Tanweer.
Anne Moffat
Age: 48
Anne Moffat was head of marketing and communications for Girlguiding UK. She was standing in the middle of the carriage between both sets of doors, close to the bomber. She commuted from Harlow, Essex, to her office in Victoria.A colleague Muriel Dunn said: “Her loss is a terrible tragedy and she will be greatly missed.”
Benedetta Ciaccia
Age: 30
The Italian-born business analyst was preparing for her wedding when she was killed at Aldgate. She was standing in the carriageway opposite the bomber and the evidence indicates she died instantly. Her fiancé, Fiaz Bhatti, spent a week on London’s streets with a homemade missing person poster, hoping she may have survived.
Richard Ellery
Age: 21
Mr Ellery had recently started working for Jessops Cameras in Ipswich and was in London for a training course. First aiders tried unsuccessfully to save him at the scene. His father, brother and flatmate searched for him in London, until his death was confirmed. The family said he had been “a fun loving boy, full of enthusiasm for life”.
Fiona Stevenson
Age: 29
Miss Stevenson was a lawyer on her way to Hammersmith Magistrates Court. Her firm described her as “hard-working, conscientious and supremely able”, driven by her determination to represent the weak. She grew up in the Chelmsford area and had friends around the world. Her family said she was passionate about human rights and wanted to work for the United Nations.
Carrie Taylor
Age: 24
Miss Taylor was on her way to work at the RSA. She commuted from Billericay, Essex, with her mother. June Taylor said they would always kiss goodbye at Liverpool Street. Then Miss Taylor would turn and wave until out of view. “I’m so very glad that the last picture I have of her is smiling and waving at me,” Mrs Taylor said.
“I managed to regain my seat and lifted my right leg to find out why I had fallen over, and my leg had gone.”
Ms Wiltshire, 38 – who hopes to compete in the 2012 Paralympics in London – was just 6ft from the bomber when the device went off.
“I recall a white light in front of my eyes and a feeling of being thrown from side to side, but I don’t remember a loud bang or anything like that,” she said.
“Everything was black, everything just looked very dark.”
She told the inquest she owed her life to off-duty police officer Elizabeth Kenworthy who gave her a belt to apply as a tourniquet to her left leg to stem the bleeding.
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