'I just remember a massive flash' - Omagh Bomb survivor
One of the survivors of the Omagh Bomb has said she still remembers the moment the bomb went off, saying it was a 'massive flash.'
Nora Laird, then Nora Spratt, was just 18-years-old when she was caught directly in the blast on Market Street in 1998.
The Omagh Bomb was the single worst atrocity of the Troubles, claiming the lives of 29 people, including two unborn children and injuring over 220.
Downtown Radio/Cool FM have been speaking to survivors as the 20th anniversary of the atrocity nears.
To this day, Nora said she remembers everything that happened, right up until the moment she was put under anesthetic for surgery.
"I just remember a massive flash and then, like, this noise," she said.
"It was just like in a movie, I remember not hearing anything then my hearing started to come back.
"Rubble was falling and I could just faintly start to hear people screaming."
Nora's injuries were severe - her right hip was shattered and shrapnel entered her bowel and stomach.
She was rushed to hospital for surgery, where her heart stopped twice on the operating table.
Even after that ordeal, she spent the next 12 hours on a life support machine.
The 38-year-old mum-of-two now says she feels lucky some days, but it's generally tinged with sadness at what happened.
"Some ways I feel lucky and sometimes I don't," she said.
"Whenever there's days where I'm in a lot of pain and I just don't feel well, I don't see myself as lucky.
"But in other ways I'm lucky because I'm still breathing, I'm married and I have two lovely wee boys, so I am lucky to be alive in that sense."
With the 20th anniversary looming, Nora said she finds it hard to believe two decades have passed.
"When someone tells me it's 20 years, I think it's crazy," she said.
"With the images I have in my mind, they're so clear, it only feels like it was last week."
Some families have campaigned for justice in the form of a public inquiry, but for Nora, the horror visited on her has not embittered her.
The Drumquin woman said she doesn't like to spend too much time dwelling on the Real IRA bombers responsible for the atrocity and tries to avoid anniversary events.
"I have my injuries, I have to live with them and the effects of that day," she said,
"Whether or not someone is behind bars is not going to make any difference to me, but I can understand people who lost someone want to get justice and they have every right to.
She also expressed her hope that someday Omagh can emerge from the shadow of the bomb.
"It's horrible that a town can just be remembered for that one thing," she said,
"You know, it hasn't got it's own thing to be known for, like it's scenery or things like that.
"As soon as you mention Omagh, that's the one thing people associate with it and it's sad that that happens."