STORIES OF

I remember pulling the priest into theatre.. it was to give the last rites

A NURSE working at the Tyrone County Hospital on the day of the bomb has recalled it as the “darkest” of her life.

Sister Joann Mccullagh was then a staff nurse and said she is proud to have been on duty and of how the people of Omagh supported each other.

She had been relaxing at home when she heard about the explosion and immediately returned to the hospital.

Ms Mccullagh said: “There were multiple people screaming and cars everywhere, buses coming, it was chaos.

“One of my memories was Mr Pinto [a surgeon] asking me to get a priest.

“At the bottom of the stairs, there were hundreds of people, roaring, shouting, crying, screaming for loved ones. I recall seeing a priest, I remember reaching over this mass of people dragging him up the stairs.

“When we got to the theatre door, there was a red line, he stopped and said, ‘You can’t enter theatre’.

“I remember going, ‘I need you now’, and pulling him into the theatre. He was obviously giving last rites to one of the unfortunate victims.”

One of Ms Mccullagh’s most poignant memories was transporting a seriously ill woman to Belfast.

She said: “The patient had very traumatic leg injuries, I recall taking this lady via helicopter. Her husband had got to the door of ward 12 just as we were about to get into the helicopter, he ran out to say cheerio to her.

“As I was getting into the aircraft, and the noise, every time I see a helicopter I remember that noise.

“I recall landing at Musgrave

Park, and the silence, the unbearable silence.

“We were taken to the Royal and there was this deafening silence. I was taken with the patient, Geraldine, into the Resus area. I recall Geraldine holding my hand and squeezing it, I remember praying to her and saying, ‘Geraldine, you are going to be all right’.”

Mrs Breslin later died from her injuries and years later Ms Mccullagh formed a lasting friendship with her relatives.

The nurse added she is proud of how the people of Omagh came together. She said: “It was the people of this town, our friends, family, our loved ones, neighbours, friends – everyone knew everyone because we are a small community.

“It was the darkest day of my life but the nursing and clinical care given on that day was exceptional. “We had to deal with an unbelievable horrendous incident but as a town and a community we worked tirelessly together and that cannot be emphasised enough.”