Metropolitan officer recalls horrible moments, she realizes the real horror of the 7/7 attack
A first responder tells the shocking moment of her bomb attack on July 7, two decades after the devastating attack.
Anna Bearman, a 23-year-old police officer at the Metropolitan Police Response Team, was on duty when he ran into three London underground trains and a bus.
Initially, she and her three colleagues were told about the incident on the King’s Cross, believed to be fire.
However, Ms. Bearman recalls the pain vividly because she understands that the situation is even more sinister than originally reported.
She said: “It was a pleasant summer morning on July 7 and everyone was excited because we just won the bid to compete in the London Olympics the day before.
Officer Bearman before the explosion on July 7, 2002 (family handout)
“We were on duty and heard that there was chaos on the Golden Cross and maybe the fire was already there, so we headed to the train station.
“As we were at Euston Station, we were asked to move to Russell Square and we were told that the injured person fled both stations.
“I remember that was the moment when I thought it wasn’t fire, it was the more sinister. It was a moment when it was clumsy.”
Ms. Bearman described how four officers in the vehicle remained silent because it was a major incident.
Upon arrival, they saw dozens of people running out of Russell Square Station, many injured.
She said: “Walking hurts, hysteria and panic, but we can’t stop and talk to them because we have to go into the tunnel to help those who can’t get out.
“We walked about a mile on the track and then we took a guy who lost his lower limbs out, because there were no stretchers and we took them a mile to Russell Square.”
7/7: London bombing. Victims were escorted away from the scene (Getty)
After receiving the second injured person out and returning to the train for the third time, they were told that no more people needed to be rescued, and they turned to searching for oxygen tanks for the injured in the temporary classification area.
Ms. Bearman recalled: “The main task after that was to guide and reassure the public, trying to keep them calm.
“Later, I saw that my pants and legs were absolutely covered in blood, and that was a shock all day.
“This anniversary is very important to commemorate the affected people, their lives, and their families and loved ones.”
Dr. Peter Holden, GP from Derbyshire, was 50 years old at the time of the explosion.
He shouldn’t be in London on July 7, but while serving as vice-chairman of the BMA GP committee, he was asked to meet with the government ministers of the BMA House in Tavistock Square.
That was the fourth device exploded on a bus transferred after the attacks of Aldgate, Edgware Road and Russell Square Tube Stations.
Dr Holden, who was trained on major events and helped dozens of people on the day, recalled: “I realized that it was really serious when the Royal London helicopter was hovering for quite a while.
“Then, I just turned to Mary Church, a colleague of the committee chair, and we heard the explosion and then everything turned into salmon pink.
“It’s something that shakes the ground. We’re three floors above the place where the bombs on the bus went out, and we looked out the window and there was a burst of white feather smoke, and the tree canopy had disappeared.
“When I went downstairs, someone was taken to a foldable tabletop for meetings as a temporary stretcher.”
As someone who received urgent care training, Dr. Holden recalls mentoring 15 doctors and establishing temporary classification areas.
Despite having to make difficult decisions around current priorities, he is still proud of the efforts his team has made in the crisis.
Dr. Holden said: “There are many people – there are Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, people who have no special faith.
“I think there are eight different nationalities around the world – medicine is indeed an international practice.
“But we have to leave two people we describe as P1, those who are very unconscious, and medical services are extremely unlikely to help, you just need to leave them with another person so they are not alone.
“It was the hardest decision of my life and it still bothers me because of the humans who provide care.
“It was a bad day, but I’m grateful that I was there to help people.”
