Claudy bomb survivor: My injuries have healed but my mind has been damaged

Paul O’Kane, who was not on duty when the first of three blasts detonated in the Co Londonderry village on July 31, 1972 but lived nearby, described how he rushed to the scene after being awoken from his sleep by the sound of the explosion only to be injured by shrapnel when the second and third devices went off.

Speaking to the News Letter, Mr O’Kane said that while his physical injures have now long since healed, he said his “mind is damaged” by the events of that day, which claimed the lives of nine people and injured dozens.

The bombing of the village is widely believed to have been carried out by the Provisional IRA, but no organisation has ever claimed responsibility and no one has ever been brought to justice for what happened.

“It was 50 years ago but it’s still raw in my mind,” he said.

“I was married to a girl from Claudy. We lived in the Bogside and, obviously it was the Troubles, and I was in the fire brigade. It seemed like every time I was on nights there was rioting and she couldn’t get sleeping, so we decided to move out to her mother’s in Claudy. We lived in Irwin Crescent. I was to be on nights that night, on the Monday, so I lay on in bed. It was quarter past ten. I heard the bang, an almighty bang. I knew rightly what it was, and where it was. I knew it was dangerous because we were used to them [explosions] in Derry.”

He continued: “I went up the street, up Irwin Crescent and turned right past the Beaufort – past the car parked on the road – on up we went. The place was a disaster.”

That wouldn’t be the end of the day’s horrors for the brave fireman, however.

As he stopped to try and save the life of a man named Arthur Hone, who sadly passed away, two more bombs detonated nearby.

One was in a vehicle parked outside the post office, and another outside a local hotel.

The device outside the post office was spotted and the area cleared, but Mr O’Kane refused to leave the still-alive Mr Hone.

“I was down on my knees so I said ‘I’ll take my chances’,” he said.

“There was an almighty bang. The wee house in front of me, at the corner, the slates all lifted up from the roof and then came down again. They came down around me, I was peckled, cut.

“The doctor tells me I’m full of wrinkles so you’ll never see the scars! I was cut on parts of my face. For a few seconds, I looked and that car was still sitting there. When that car went off, it hit Artie and it hit me — the metal. It hit Artie in his head, but what damage was done inside his clothes I don’t know.

“People say the car outside the post office went off first, but to me it was as if it was the same time.

“The damage to me was shrapnel in my side. It’s still there. The side of my face, my arms, my whole left-hand side.”

Mr O’Kane spent nearly a month in hospital, and an even longer time recovering before returning to his job as a firefighter.

Reflecting on tomorrow’s milestone anniversary, he said: “I have no real affiliation now with Claudy. My Eileen died nearly 20 years ago, then I met Eilish. But just the word Claudy – I won’t sleep thinking about this. My mind was damaged.

“I am hoping that with this 50th anniversary it will bring peace of mind to me. There are still a few people there who I know. I was at an event and people were saying ‘that man there, no one knows what he did’, but I didn’t do anything.

“I just seen a man there who was hurt and, okay, there were bloodstains and I was hurt, but I’m here to talk about it.”

He added: “I am glad, now, that this anniversary is coming up because I will be part of it.

“My physical injuries have healed but the injury to my mind is still there.”