This is the emotional moment a 7/7 survivor was reunited with the police officer who saved her life.
In July 2005, four coordinated bombs exploded in a terrorist attack that shocked London and killed 52 people.
Martine Wright, from London, who nearly died in the terror attack, spoke about the terrifying day and was shocked. in LADbible Television‘s YouTube of a heroic off-duty police officer, Elizabeth Kenworthy, who saved her life.
It was an emotional reunion for the couple who had not seen each other for 12 years, with Elizabeth telling Martine: “I am immensely proud to meet you.”
Martine, 50, then 32 and working as an international marketing manager, was on the Circle line just metres from the Aldgate attacker on the morning of 7 July.
Martine Wright, from London, who almost died in the 2005 terror attack, spoke about the terrifying day on the LADbible TV YouTube channel.
Martine, who lost both legs in the July 7 attacks, relived the horror of that day saying: ‘Once the smoke had settled in the carriage, I looked up and about two metres above my head was my coach.
“And I was sitting on metal shards. My leg wasn’t in there, or at least I assumed it wasn’t in there, and I was covered in blood.”
The day before the attack, it was announced that London had won the bid to host the 2012 Olympics and Martine went out to celebrate with her colleagues. The next morning, 7 July, she overslept and was late for work.
She said: ‘That morning I remember running up the escalator at Moorgate. I’ve never been one of those people who just stands still on an escalator.
“I was always running up. I remember going up to the top of Moorgate, turning right and watching the tube coming in. I remember thinking, ‘What a result!'”
“I sat in my favorite seat… and I had time that morning to read the newspaper. And I couldn’t turn a page that morning without reading something about the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
However, shortly after beginning her journey, Martine remembers seeing a flash and her life changed forever.
She said: ‘Then the explosion happened. I don’t remember a bang. I remember a light, I remember a flash in front of my eyes and I remember thinking, “What the hell is going on?”
“Then I remember the darkness, the smoke, the screams. And the only thing I can describe is that we were sitting in an environment that was not a tube, it did not look like a tube at all.
‘My first reaction was, ‘It was an accident. It was an accident, we had an accident.’ And I couldn’t move. I didn’t think my legs were trapped at that point, but I knew I couldn’t get out.’
Martine was surprised by heroic off-duty police officer Elizabeth Kenworthy (right), who saved her life.
The London Underground carriage where Martine was sitting during the 2005 terrorist attack at Aldgate Underground station.
Martine, who was unaware she was seriously injured at the time, began talking to another person who was also trapped near her, Andrew Brown, who also survived the attack.
She said: ‘I was talking to someone behind me, and it was Andy. He’d been in the RAF and he knew straight away it was a bomb. He didn’t tell me.
“But we started talking to each other and, unbeknownst to me, he was being electrocuted at that moment, by an exposed wire, a subway wire.”
Recalling the absolute horror of that day, Martine said all she could hear was people “screaming” around her.
She said: ‘TThere was another passenger here who was standing in front of me and saying, “My arm, my arm.” At that moment, a door had torn off his arm.
Recalling the bravery of some of the people that day, Martine broke down in tears as she remembered one woman in particular, Elizabeth Kenworthy.
She said: ‘I cry because the bravery of the people that day was so great, because they were days from the most selfish act to the most selfless act.
‘There were a lot of guardian angels that day, my angels, and one of them was Liz, an off-duty policewoman. She had been in one of the carriages. And I think the explosion happened and she knew straight away that it was a bomb.
“She walked towards our carriage. It’s a sight I’ll never, ever forget: her long blond hair and piercing blue eyes.”
Since the terrorist attack, Martine has become captain of the British Paralympic sitting volleyball team.
Martine, who considers herself “lucky”, represented Team GB at the London 2012 Paralympic Games
Elizabeth was the only one who tried to help Martine in the first half hour after the explosion, because emergency services were advised not to enter the metro station in case there were secondary devices.
She said: ‘She stayed with me. She gave me water. And I kept telling her: ‘My name is Martine Wright, please tell my mum and dad that I’m okay. My name is Martine Wright.’ Again, I think the irony is that I wasn’t okay. I was the most injured female survivor. that morning.’
Elizabeth stayed with Martine for an hour and 15 minutes, applying tourniquets to her and Andrew and keeping them talking until paramedics could reach them.
She said: ‘I remember everyone was gone, all the firefighters had taken out all the other people in my car, people who had died, people who were alive.
“But I was the last person there. And why was I the last person there? Because, apparently, I had to be carried out of the place.”
Martine does not remember anything else from that day because she fell into a coma and woke up in the hospital eight days later.
She said: ‘I remember waking up, moving around, let’s say moving. And I remember lying in my bed and having to strain myself to lift my head up. I would describe it as being like I could see half a body.
“They would amputate both my legs above the knee. I think one of my legs was fused against the side of the pipe.
“I didn’t look at myself for the first two months of my recovery. All I did was look down at that bed in Royal London and say over and over again, ‘I have no legs. I have no legs.’ And I couldn’t understand it.”
Martine said she is certain Elizabeth saved her life that day by acting quickly and wrapping a tourniquet around her leg.
Since the terrorist attack, Martine has become captain of the British Paralympic sitting volleyball team, gained her pilot’s licence, represented Team GB at the London 2012 Paralympic Games and has become a motivational speaker.
Speaking about Elizabeth, Martine said: “Every time I see her, I just want to hug her and say ‘Thank you’, because I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her bravery, you know?”
At that moment a light inside the mirror turned on to reveal Elizabeth sitting on the other side and Martine burst into tears.
Asked how it felt to see Elizabeth again, he said it was “surreal” because they hadn’t seen each other since 2012.
Liz said, “It doesn’t matter that you haven’t seen me for so long because, you know, what you’ve done. And I’m immensely proud to know you.”
