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<\/p>\nA London Ambulance Service medic will be a candle bearer at a service of commemoration at St Paul\u2019s Cathedral tomorrow to mark 20 years since the London bombings.<\/p>\n
Tracy Russell, who was an Emergency Medical Technician at the time, attended Russell Square Underground Station on 7 July 2005 with her crewmate Liam. It was near the site of the deadliest and deepest of the four bombs that exploded that morning.<\/p>\n
The pair spent more than three hours in the tunnel helping casualties, only leaving once the last patient was rescued. One of the people they treated was Gill Hicks, a young Australian woman who later became one of Tracy\u2019s closest friends.<\/p>\n
Tracy said: \u201cI could feel the adrenalin kicking in as we arrived and saw people coming out of Russell Square station covered in soot and smoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got our kit together and went onto the platform and jumped onto the track. We pulled our t-shirts up over our mouths because there was so much smoke and soot in the air and we started walking along the track.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seemed to go on forever so we had to time to think: what are we walking into? Then I saw a casualty on the track. They had a lower limb amputation but were still in good spirits and I remember thinking this is all a bit surreal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tracy and her colleague climbed into the train through the driver\u2019s door and began assessing passengers, working their way down the carriage until they reached the site of the blast.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cThere were a few people calling out but no one was screaming, just muttering and murmuring. The emergency lighting was on but it was quite low and the air was still very smoky which you could taste.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that point I didn\u2019t know this had been a deliberate attack. Then someone said to us that there had been intelligence that there might be a secondary device and did we want to leave or stay treating the injured.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe made a decision to stay. I was scared but we couldn\u2019t leave. That would never have been the right decision for me. There was no question of leaving when we had patients who needed us.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do remember thinking I might not get married \u2013 I was due to get married in 8 days\u2019 time \u2013 but that was a fleeting thought \u2013 I was just focused on getting people out of the train.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe heard and felt the vibrations of the bus bomb go off but we didn\u2019t know where it was at that point. We wondered if that was the secondary device and whether there was going to be another one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crews working in the tunnels had to be resourceful, using clothing to make tourniquets and stretchers.<\/p>\n
Tracy said: \u201cWhen the last patient was taken out, you could have heard a pin drop. We got outside the station at Russell Square and were relieved to breathe fresh air and see daylight. It was eerily quiet, like you imagine an apocalypse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Afterwards, Tracy went to the pub that evening and returned to work the next day.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cIt was in the days after that the horror hit me, it had been like a warzone, but I had to compartmentalise so I could function \u2013 I had my job to do and I was still getting married.\u201d<\/p>\n
A year later, Tracy heard that Gill wanted to meet her and her crewmate to say thank you.<\/p>\n
Tracy said: \u201cI had been worried about meeting her but it was amazing \u2013 we have become very close friends. She moved back home to Australia and I have been there several times to visit.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven our daughters are friends. I sometimes can\u2019t believe that something so positive could have come out of that terror attack.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tracy will be among four candle bearers at the commemoration service for invited guests on Monday, 7 July.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI feel so honoured to be a candle bearer at St Paul\u2019s. I find the anniversaries very sad but despite the horror of that day, I\u2019m glad I was there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did my best for our patients and I\u2019m glad I could help some of them \u2013 and it meant I met Gill. I think I always knew I had it in me. I still feel so proud of working for the London Ambulance Service \u2013 not just for what we did that day.\u201d<\/p>\n
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