Sister of Omagh victim ‘lives with guilt’ because she survived attack

A woman who suffered life-changing injuries in the Omagh bombing has said she lives with guilt because she survived the attack while her sister was killed.

Nicola Marlow told the Omagh Bombing Inquiry that she was unable to attend the funeral of her sister Jolene due to her injuries sustained in the 1998 Real IRA attack.

The inquiry last week heard a commemorative statement about 17-year-old Jolene Marlow, who had three younger brothers and a younger sister.

Nicola Marlow was standing next to her sister when a car bomb exploded in the centre of the Co Tyrone town.

A statement from Nicola Marlow was read to the inquiry by solicitor Emma Fox.

It said: “August 15 1998 should have been a normal day. I went to Omagh on my own for the first time ever to buy concert tickets after earning money babysitting over the summer.

“My sister had made arrangements to take a late lunch so we could meet.

“Following the events of the Omagh bomb I’ve had to live with the guilt of my sister being in the town at that time because I was as well.

“Had I not been there at that time, she wouldn’t have been either.

“This is a burden that I have carried for years.”

Ms Marlow said the events had changed her and her family’s world forever.

She said: “Not only did I lose my only sister but my parents and brothers lost their first-born daughter and elder sister.

“For me personally, I sustained life-changing injuries that would define the rest of my life.

“I was airlifted to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast on August 15 and spent the next few months undergoing multiple gruelling surgeries and therapies to try to survive and recover.

“Due to my injuries being so bad I was unable to attend my sister’s funeral, meaning I never got the opportunity to say goodbye.

“The last time I saw my sister was standing side by side behind the car that would ultimately kill her and maim me.

“My parents, my brothers and I were robbed of the ability to grieve properly as a family.

“I was robbed of my only sister, my mentor and a friend to help me navigate through the normal challenges of life.

“In the years following the bomb, I have had to overcome the pain and suffering of my physical injuries, the emotional grief of loss, the guilt of having survived while also the resentment of having been left behind to endure the suffering.”

The statement said Ms Marlow was “reluctant” to be classified as a victim.

She said: “The word ‘victim’ somehow suggests a vulnerability and a weakness.

“However, I believe that the victims, survivors and families of those involved are some of the strongest people I have met.”

She said she hoped the public inquiry would enable some to get the “closure they need to overcome some of the challenges they have faced in the past 26 years”.

Inquiry chair Lord Turnbull said: “It is already becoming clear to me that Nicola is correct in identifying the extent of the strength exhibited by the various victims and survivors of the bombing.”