Dan Biddle, who lives in Wales, was the most-injured survivor of the 7/7 suicide bombings on London’s transport network, losing an eye and both legs in the horrific attack – now he wants an inquiry into what happened on that terrible day
Dan was given just a 2% chance of survival(Image: Humphrey Nemar)
It’s been nearly two decades since Dan Biddle was rescued, severely injured and traumatised, from the Edgware Road Tube Station in London – having lost an eye, both legs, and with his mental health irreparably damaged.
With only a 2% chance of survival, Dan emerged as a beacon of resilience – becoming the most severely wounded survivor of the 7/7 attacks. Almost 20 years after the harrowing events of July 7, 2005, his struggle persists.
He grapples daily with Complex PTSD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety, and survivor’s guilt, tormented by visions of the bomber’s face.
Now, Dan is advocating for the government to acknowledge the victims properly as the 20th anniversary approaches next month – by initiating a comprehensive public inquiry. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
“Some 52 people lost their lives, why doesn’t that warrant one?” he questions. “I knew that getting blown up, life was going to be tough but I didn’t think it would be unjust.”
The attacks left more than 770 people injured when four jihadists detonated explosives on three underground trains and a bus. Dan relives the nightmare every night, reports the Mirror.
“I have been exhausted for 20 years because I dread going to sleep,” he admits. “The minute I go to sleep, I’m on the floor in the tunnel.”
At 26 years old and standing at 6ft 4in, Dan’s former life was shattered while he was en route to a construction job. He found himself perilously close to bomber, Mohammad Sidique Khan, who was seated holding a rucksack.
Dan, who lives in Abergavenny with wife Gem, vividly recalls the harrowing encounter: “I was about six inches from touching him,” he said. “He was staring at me, and I thought it was a bit odd. I noticed him lean forward and look along the carriage. And then he sat back and was staring at me again.
“I was about to ask him what he was looking at. And then I see him put his hand into the bag. There was a white flash. It was just incredibly, incredibly bright, the feeling of a huge amount of heat. I was blown through the carriage doors.”
Dan lives in Abergavenny with his wife, Gem(Image: Humphrey Nemar)
Dan was hurled against the tunnel wall and came to rest between the wall and the train tracks. “Both my arms and hands were on fire, then I did the one thing that I wish I hadn’t done. I started to look around. That’s when I saw the first dead body. A young lady, catastrophic injuries.
“And then wherever I looked after that, the next one I saw was 10 times worse. There was no escape from the horror around me. I heard people screaming, and then the screams stopped, and I knew why.
“Those screams don’t ever leave you, and the smells…well, the smells never go away. It’s a mixture of molten plastic, burnt meat, blood.”
In the midst of chaos, an ex-Army medic discovered Dan and courageously traversed the tracks to assist.
He managed to clamp Dan’s femoral artery moments before he would have succumbed to blood loss. Dan’s heart ceased to beat three times while in hospital.
The final instance saw the surgeon manually coaxing his heart back to life for almost 15 minutes. Dan regained consciousness eight weeks following the ordeal.
He was the most injured survivor(Image: Humphrey Nemar)
“I’ve got an artificial left eye. My left eardrum was completely blown out,” he says. “My right eardrum was perforated, my spleen burst, both my lungs were punctured, my kidney was punctured, my liver was lacerated, and my colon and bowel were ruptured, I had burns, an open forehead, a 20p wedged in my bone and sepsis.
“If you said to somebody this list of injuries, they go, ‘they’re dead. Yeah, simple as that’.”
The physical aftermath was merely the beginning for him. A sudden noise, aroma or mere word can trigger deeply distressing flashbacks of the incident, occurring with unsettling frequency – up to 15 instances daily.
Compulsive rituals plague him, such as driving extensive distances to verify a locked door.
He’s also plagued by the anguish of surviving when others didn’t, and horrific night terrors persist. “I see Khan a lot, it’s like being haunted by him,” he discloses.
“I can wake up in the middle of the night, and he’s standing next to the bed, leaning over me. It’s a really strange sensation, because I know he’s dead. I’ve watched the guy kill himself.”
BACK FROM THE DEAD: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE 7/7 BOMBINGS By Dan Biddle with Douglas Thompson, by Mirror Books, £20 is out Thursday(Image: Humphrey Nemar)
There’s no remedy for Complex PTSD, but Dan holds onto hope that Prime Minister Keir Starmer will recognise the significance an inquiry could have for him and others.
Back in 2011, during the inquest into the 7/7 bombings, a verdict stated MI5 wasn’t at fault despite having monitored Khan and another perpetrator prior to the attack. Nonetheless, Dan asserts: “A public inquiry won’t give me my legs back. It won’t give me my eye back.”
Dan, who features in the four-part Netflix series Attack on London: Hunting the 7/7 bombers airing from July 1, adds: “But I’d have a sense of justice that somebody has been held accountable. Khan got what he wanted. I’m living the life sentence he and the others should be serving.”
He adds: “It’s time for answers.”
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