Why Madrid means I will never forget Bali

Speaking for the first time about his ordeal in Bali a year-and-a-half ago, the 38-year-old, of Cepen Park South, Chippenham, said the latest bombing had shown British people the threat of terrorism was creeping closer to their doorsteps.

Mr Lawrenson, whose right arm had to be amputated after an explosion outside the Sari club on October 12, 2002, said he would never forget his terrifying experience.

"I'm always thinking about Bali part of me is still there," he said. "You cannot just forget or try to forget a traumatic experience like that.

forget a traumatic experience like that. Now, whenever I see a bombing on television the immense thing that strikes me is how big it is.

"Two hundred and two people died in Bali and now the Madrid bombing is on the same kind of scale.

"The thing about Madrid is it brought home to people in this country that this threat is right on our doorstep and it might not necessarily happen when you are on holiday, it could just happen on your way to work.

"I think the Government is now really worried. I think people are resigned to the fact that it is not a question of if but when it is going to happen.

"If it happens here, people have more of a chance of getting help than if they are blown up abroad."

The former Westinghouse Rail Systems worker said it is thanks to the Australian government, not the British one, that he is alive today. He hopes the Madrid victims will not feel as let down by their government as he does.

"The hospital facilities in Bali were really poor," he said. "They were far too overstretched and did not have things like antibiotics. I was evacuated by the Australian government if it wasn't for them I would be a dead man."

Mr Lawrenson, who was on the first day of a two-week scuba diving holiday and was in the Sari club on the night of the explosion, is angry about the continued lack of support from the British government. He is even being forced to fight to ensure terror victims injured abroad are automatically entitled to disability benefits.

Mr Lawrenson, who also suffered severe shrapnel wounds to his legs and back, was refused disability living allowance on a return to Britain because he had been working in the Chinese capital Beijing for six months before the attack.

"Even though I was paying tax and National Insurance in Britain I was told I had to be physically over here to qualify. I could not claim until the end of May last year," he said.

The software engineer is a member of the UK Bali Bombing Victim Group which holds monthly meetings in London, and to help fight their corner, he has set up two websites offering useful links and more information about the bombing.

Mr Lawrenson is also trying to make people aware there is no travel insurance cover for acts of terrorism, which meant his current bosses at Motorola in Swindon had to cover the cost of the overseas medical attention.

He said the hardest pill to swallow was when three British consulates in Bali were given OBEs; he claims they had done nothing to help.

Now, two years on, the blast victim said he was relieved to be working, driving and jogging again. On Wednesday, doctors told him he could also swim after an operation to repair his left eardrum, which was damaged in the explosion, was a success.

"I'm taking things steady last year was all about getting my life back together," said Mr Lawrenson. "I'm determined to travel again.

"You can't allow it to change your life, otherwise the terrorists will win."

Two bombs were detonated in the Bali attack, killing 202 people from 21 countries. A suicide bomber in Paddy's bar detonated the first bomb and the second was detonated in a small van outside the Sari club.

The death toll for the terrorist bombings in Madrid last Thursday has now risen to more than 200.

bpayne@newswilts.co.uk