7/7 survivor begs Brown for help

Published on Sunday 8 July 2007 00:40

A SURVIVOR of the July 7 bombings who is still so traumatised that she cannot step foot on an Underground train yesterday begged Gordon Brown to help the hundreds of people still struggling to come to terms with the tragedy.

Beverli Rhodes was on the King's Cross train when Germaine Lindsay launched the most lethal of the four attacks two years ago - blowing himself up and killing 26 other people.

The mother-of-four was lucky to survive, but she suffered horrific facial and brain injuries when her head smashed against a pole during the blast and is only now coming to the end of months of reconstruction surgery.

With one more operation to go, she appears fully recovered thanks to doctors in Thailand where she was forced to go for surgery after her insurance company decided she was not covered for injuries caused by terrorists.

But yesterday, on the second anniversary of the attacks, she revealed she is still receiving counselling for post-traumatic stress and feels that she and other survivors and relatives of victims have now been forgotten.

More than 100 others are currently still having trauma treatment from hospitals, said Rhodes, but had all now received a letter saying it would be cut this September because the funding had run out.

Of the 1,000 or so survivors and relatives, she estimates 10 to 15% are "vanishing victims" who are still in need of treatment for post-traumatic stress or cognitive behavioural therapy but face being cut loose by the system.

The 46-year-old from Maidstone in Kent appealed directly to the Prime Minister, saying: "My challenge to Mr Brown is: will he provide more funding to hospitals to support families of victims and survivors?"

She and her fellow survivors had initially been promised they would be treated like war veterans who were injured in the line of duty, but in fact they have not been treated fairly, she said.

The security professional, who advised on how Britain could protect itself from terrorism before the bombings, is worried their needs are now being swept under the carpet.

In her role as chairman of the London Bombings Foundation, she is doing her best to help struggling survivors and families of victims but has had to approach local authorities and shops herself to ask for their help.

She said: "Many survivors have lost their jobs, their families have broken up because of the trauma. They are really, really battling. We are doing what we can to help but we do not have any funding of our own."

One woman could not even afford to pay for shampoo or toothpaste and was having to wash her hair with washing-up liquid until the foundation stepped in to help her, Rhodes added, who herself had to sell her car and house to pay for treatment abroad.

On top of the trauma and financial worries, she and nine other survivors have discovered they have tumours potentially caused by smoke inhalation or asbestos in the Underground after the blast.

The effects of these tumours might not be seen for decades, and she asks: "If this is two years down the track and we are literally already forgotten about, what about in 20 years?"

Rhodes is also one of the 126 applicants who are still waiting to receive all their compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority and has only received 3,000 over the past two years.

She said she could understand why her case was taking time to resolve, because of the nature of her injuries and the time they take to settle, but added that others should have been paid in full long ago.

She said: "In my situation, I understand it takes a bit longer but I don't see the reason why they have been so bureaucratic and the administration has taken so long to pay these other people out. They really should have paid them out by now."

She was "elated" at Brown's presence at yesterday's low-key act of remembrance and is hopeful it means her ongoing plight and that of other survivors will now be recognised.

Rhodes said: "I was amazed that he was there. I would like to say to him, in the spirit of support and solidarity, 'Let's talk.' I would like to issue a public statement of my invitation to him to discuss a way forward.

"I have had so many calls this morning, saying, 'It looks like he has not forgotten us.' If that is the case, we are extremely positive that he is going to come forward and put measures in place to support us in the future."