There to stay ... an X-ray shows the bearings in Mr Fitzgerald's body.
Posted on 12/20/2005 8:59:38 PM PST by naturalman1975
MOST of the ball bearings that ripped through Terry Fitzgerald's body - partially severing his spinal cord, cutting nerves to two fingers and shredding his spleen - are still there.
Doctors have been able to remove six but the other 26 will remain lodged in his back, arms and head, constant reminders of the Bali bomb blast in October that killed his son Brendan, badly injured his daughter Jessica and changed his life forever.
"The one in the head went through the side of my neck here, missed all the important stuff and ended up at the top of my head," Fitzgerald says, talking publicly for the first time since the attack.
The 43-year-old remembers little about the explosion at Raja's restaurant in Kuta on the night of October 1 but his partially paralysed body, crossed with burns and scars, bears testament to the brutality of the attack, which killed 23 people including four Australians.
Remarkably, the Perth property developer harbours no anger towards the terrorists who took the life of his 16-year-old son.
Mr Fitzgerald says he still finds it difficult to relive the night he faced death, preferring to focus his thoughts and energy on his physical rehabilitation, which includes four physiotherapy sessions each week. His other priority is providing emotional support to 13-year-old Jessica, who lives with her mother in Busselton, 200km south of Perth. The teenager suffered multiple shrapnel wounds and burns in the blast.
"I just prefer to focus on what I've got to do to get better and focus on being there for Jessica," he tells The Australian. "I'm just looking to the future and not dwelling on things I can't change or have no control over.
"I ring her every day and tell her that I love her. She's been up here in hospital for a couple of weeks so I've seen her every day.
"(She is) gorgeous, caring, loving. Through this she's been remarkably strong."
In the coming months, Mr Fitzgerald is confident he will discard his wheelchair and walk again, with the aid of crutches.
"To walk normally would be an unreal expectation but I'd like to be more mobile than what I am now," he says.
He is less certain about the emotional hurdles.
"(Christmas) is going to be difficult. I've already found it difficult. I went shopping on the weekend and didn't buy Brendan anything.
"Those emotions run through you and make you think about it a bit more. I have my bad moments, my sad times, and I think about Brendan every day, a lot of the day."
The 16-year-old took the full impact of the blast and was pronounced dead on arrival at the Bali International Medical Centre. His funeral was delayed to allow his father to return to Perth from Singapore General Hospital, where he spent two weeks in intensive care.
"(Brendan) was just a decent young man, never had a bad word to say about anybody, had a great sense of humour (and) cared a lot about his sisters," Fitzgerald says.
"He was a terrific kid."
Returning to his home in the riverside suburb of Como three weeks ago, Mr Fitzgerald was again confronted with the enormousness of his loss. "It was upsetting to be wheeled through a door that the last time I went out of, I was walking and Brendan and Jessica were behind me and we were off to have a holiday."
Mr Fitzgerald hopes to return to work in the new year. "It's no good feeling sorry for myself. I've just got to get on and do the best I can with what I've got."
that xray = the religion of peace
He's certainly a better human being than I. I want people who kill innocents to rot in hell for eternity.
The Bali Horror- a partial Archive
various links | 10-13-02 | The Heavy Equipment Guy
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