IRA bomb family charity aids arena terror victims
MANCHESTER terror victims have been supported by a foundation set up after the deadly IRA Warrington bomb, the Daily Express can reveal.
Tim Parry, 12, and three-year-old Johnathan Ball, died in the IRA attack in Cheshire, on March 20, 1993, which also injured 54.
Two years later, parents Colin and Wendy Parry created a fitting legacy by forming the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation For Peace.
Last night, the story of the Warrington bomb was told in BBC drama Mother’s Day, starring Line Of Duty star Vicky McClure.
But before it was aired, the Parrys invited us to the foundation’s Peace Centre in Warrington to reveal how it has helped the survivors of last year’s Manchester Arena bomb.
Spirit
They told us how their Survivors Assistance Network (SAN) has spent the last year helping 770 traumatised victims of the suicide bomb in Manchester on May 22.
Twenty-three people were killed, including the attacker, and 139 were wounded, more than half of them children. Hundreds more suffered psychological trauma.
Colin, 71, explained how one of their main tasks was explaining to the families of victims that they will all grieve differently.
Arena survivor Yasmine Leem 13, was one of the first bloodied victims taken to hospital after the suicide bomb detonated – and turned to the network for help.
She said: “At the start I was like, ‘I don’t need help, I’m fine’.
“Then, when it got to seven months, I started flashbacks and not knowing why because the feelings that I had were so unknown.”
The peace centre’s network provides an individual “care pathway” for victims.
Its manager Terry O’Hara said: “We tell people ‘what you’re going through is normal. It’s horrible but you’re not going crazy’.
“Over the past year we’ve had lots of calls from stoic men ringing us, worried about their wives or daughters. Six weeks later they are back on the telephone, needing us for themselves.”
Last night’s Mother’s Day on BBC Two also starred Line Of Duty actor Daniel Mays as Colin Parry, while Bleak House actress Anna Maxwell Martin played Wendy.
The true story centred on Irish peace campaigner Susan McHugh (McClure) and Wendy Parry (Maxwell Martin) living either side of the Irish Sea and brought together after the Warrington bomb. The Parrys, who have two grown-up children, worked with programme producers.
But the re-enactment of the explosion was “shocking” for them.
Colin said: “The idea that after the first bomb Tim staggered around dazed and walks into the second one is horrifying. It was difficult to watch.” Tim died in his mother’s arms five days later.
Actor Mays admitted he was left “humbled” after taking his family to visit the Parrys.
He praised them for their “strength and fight against terrorism”, adding: “There is no finer example of the power of the human spirit.”