Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Seeking my saviour
Holding stranger’s hand after 7/7 tube bombing saved me
Karl Williams had been celebrating London’s successful Olympic bid and was late for his dance class so needed to change tube trains. He was on King’s Cross’ hot and busy Piccadilly line platform at 8.50am on July 7, 2005. His life was about to change forever.
Karl, 39, was just feet from a terrorist whose bomb killed 26 people in the deadliest of the 7/7 attacks, which took 52 lives.
He thought he was going to die until a woman’s voice from the rubble asked if she could hold his hand. Karl believes she saved his life and he turned to Anita Rani and her new BBC Two show, Saved by a Stranger, to find her. He says: “I remember thinking something doesn’t feel right but I was pushed on the tube from behind. A few seconds later there was a massive bang.
“There was silver rain everywhere, from glass shattering. It felt like we were coasting forever before the train stopped. Then there was silence. It was pitch black, and you could taste the smoke. It was very acidic.”
Initially Karl thought part of the tube had collapsed and they would be buried alive.
“I’m not religious but I was desperate to get out – so I prayed and said I wouldn’t be gay any more.
“I just wanted to be with my mum. The rubble was up to my knees and I started blubbering like a child.”
But then a woman asked him to hold her hand. Karl says: “I said, ‘We’re going to die here, aren’t we?’ And she was so calm and she said ‘No, we’re going to get out’. In some way, she saved me. I’m not sure I’d be who I am now without having her to hold my hand.”
Their encounter also haunted Karl because when passengers were finally told to walk to safety he pushed in front of her.
He says: “I wanted to say sorry. I felt so terrible I’d do that to someone so helpful.”
Karl had failed to find her but with documents from coroners he and Anita pieced together who was near him on the tube.
A woman named Susan had a remarkably similar story to Karl, so they met.
Ex-dancer Karl, who is training to be a clinical psychologist, says: “We will never know if it was Susan who held my hand or not but it doesn’t really matter now.
“After speaking to Susan my survivor’s guilt lifted, because I knew that by holding someone’s hand I had helped them too.”
They are still in contact. He says: “Most people have been in touch with other survivors for 15 years and I missed out because I didn’t feel like I deserved to be part of it because I wasn’t injured.
“What’s really come through is how important small acts of kindness are.”
The rubble was up to my knees and I started blubbering like a child KARL WILLIAMS RELIVES DEADLY 7/7 TUBE BOMBING