British hero of attack in Barcelona
Holidaymaker Harry Athwal tells of moment he was pictured comforting stricken child in aftermath of atrocity
HE didn’t know the little boy lying limp in the midst of the horror of Las Ramblas but Harry Athwal couldn’t leave him on his own.
As survivors ran screaming for their lives and police yelled at everyone to get away, British tourist Harry rushed to the child’s side.
He stayed with him despite the horrific chaos of the attack. He had to – the lad reminded him so much of his own son.
The image of Harry kneeling over the child was beamed around the world as news of the terror attack spread, but he couldn’t have been less concerned about that when we spoke to him yesterday.
He was worrying about the little boy with the broken body, the terrible injuries, no pulse.
Paramedics came and took him away and Harry has no idea what happened to him, whether he is alive or dead. It’s all he can think about.
Harry, from Great Barr, Birmingham, recalled: “He was unconscious, his leg was bent the wrong way and there was blood coming out of his head. I knew it was more than blood.
“I was checking for a pulse and he didn’t have one. I put my hand on his back and I thought he had gone.
“I was stroking his hair and in floods of tears but I stayed with him. I sat there because I was not going to leave this child in the middle of the road.
“The police were telling me to move but I would not leave him. All the time I was thinking the terrorists could come back but I was not leaving that child.
“To me, he looked like my own son. He was my son’s age, seven or eight.
“I just ran my hands through his hair. It was about comforting him.”
Harry, a 44-year-old project manager, helped son Khye celebrate his eighth birthday a few days ago.
He wasn’t supposed to be in Barcelona this week but he couldn’t resist when his sister Kinde invited him to join her and friends on a spontaneous trip.
They arrived hours before the attack. Their rooms weren’t ready so they headed to Las Ramblas for a late lunch.
The group nearly chose a restaurant right in the middle of the pedestrianised street. If they had, they would have been in the van’s path.
But a persuasive waiter lured them to another cafe on a first-floor balcony. They were sitting there when the massacre began.
Harry said: “We saw the van coming, zig-zagging down the road.
“People were flying everywhere. The thuds – people looked like bundles of clothes being thrown up in the air.
“We knew straight away this was terrorism. I told the others, ‘Stay where you are,’ and ran out to help.
“I looked to my left and right and there were bodies strewn, and to the right there was this child in the middle of the road. I ran straight to him.
“I never saw his face, his hair was all over it. There was a piece of black moulding from the van next to him. I picked it up and threw it away.”
Harry sat with the boy for what felt
like hours, but he believes it can only really have been about 10 minutes.
Paramedics were on the scene quickly but there were so many victims that Harry had to call repeatedly to get their attention.
“There was so much panic,” he says. “It was pandemonium and people were screaming.”
Finally, they got to the boy and scooped him up. Harry said they looked shocked at the sight of him.
Exhausted, Harry found his sister, who had come to look for him. They joined many other survivors in a pharmacy, where they remained locked in behind the shutters for around five hours.
“We were on lockdown until around midnight,” Harry said. “Then armed police arrived and marched us out.”
Harry and his sister joined in a minute’s silence for the victims yesterday and marched along Las Ramblas with the people of Barcelona.
But they stopped short of the spot where the little boy fell. They couldn’t face that.
They’re desperate for news of him. It shows on their faces. Harry says quietly: “It comforts me to know there was someone with him.”
Then he adds: “We will be staying here until Monday, as we planned. We owe it to Barcelona not to run.”