A South African graduate has shared what was going through her mind as she faced murderous gunmen with hundreds of concert goers at Bataclan concert hall in Paris on Friday.
Isobel Bowdery, 22, posted the emotionally raw status on Facebook to describe her horrific ordeal which is accompanied by a photo of the t-shirt she wore to the concert, stained with blood.
The former Cape Town University student thanks the many strangers that helped her during the night from the man who she credits for saving her life to a couple she heard exchanging loving last words.
Survivor: South African graduate Isobel Bowdery, 22, posted a photo of her bloodstained t-shirt to the social networking site thanking strangers for opening their doors
Frozen: ‘As I lay down in the blood of strangers and waiting for my bullet to end my mere 22 years, I envisioned every face that I have ever loved and whispered I love you,’ Isobel wrote on Facebook
In a chilling admission, Isobel (not pictured) said she first thought the gunmen were just an elaborate part of the Eagles of Death Metal show, until they opened fire ‘meticulously’ on the helpless crowd leaving as many 80 people dead on Friday night
‘I was waiting for the fatal shot,’ said Anthony, another survivor (not pictured) ‘And then somebody yelled that they (attackers) were gone, everybody wanted to get out. I slipped in a pool of thick blood. We crawled, we climbed over people’
In a chilling admission, she said she first thought the gunmen were just an elaborate part of the Eagles of Death Metal show, until they opened fire ‘meticulously’ on the helpless crowd leaving as many 80 people dead on Friday night.
‘Dozens of people were shot right in front of me. Pools of blood filled the floor. Cries of grown men who held their girlfriends dead bodies pierced the small music venue,’ she wrote.
Survivor Sylvain Raballant, 42, said: ‘I turn around and I see two guys with Kalashnikovs. They were dressed normally – jeans and sneakers. At first I thought they were shooting in the air. Then I saw people falling over,’
As the audience gradually understood they were caught in a siege, they tried to make themselves as invisible as possible.
Shock: Isobel, 22, said she first thought the gunmen were just an elaborate part of the Eagles of Death Metal show, until they opened fire ‘meticulously’ on the helpless crowd leaving as many 80 people dead on Friday night. Above, the band on stage a few moments before four men armed with assault rifles stormed the theatre
Firefighters do their best to help one severely injured civilian shortly after the gunmen blew themselves up inside the theatre
But mobile phones were ringing, quickly followed by shooting. It seemed like every 15 seconds there was another shot, 35-year-old survivor Philippe told AFP.
‘They fired into the crowd and people tried to escape but the attackers said: ‘If you move, we’ll kill you,” he said.
‘I saw three attackers, two of them clearly. One looked like a young guy, with a three-day beard. The other was closely shaved, wearing small eye glasses and some kind of yellow beret. He was also wearing what I took for a bullet-proof vest. It was actually an explosive vest,’ said Loic Wiels, who also made it out of the theatre alive.
Isobel played dead for more than an hour, lying among people who could see their loved ones motionless, as she held her breath, trying not to move.
‘As I lay down in the blood of strangers and waiting for my bullet to end my mere 22 years, I envisioned every face that I have ever loved and whispered I love you,’ she said.
She then faced an agonizing 45 minutes separated from her boyfriend, who she believed had died
But despite the horror, Ms Bowdery vows that the help she received from strangers throughout the night has made her determined to continue to see the good in people.
Heroes: The young woman hails these strangers as heroes, and says that the luck that allowed her survived means she must shed light on the courageous acts of those that didn’t and to ‘not let those men win’.
In a heartbreaking stream of consciousness, the brave survivor pays tribute to the many people who she encountered during the evening and thanks them for helping her believe in a better world.
‘To the man who reassured me and put his life on [the] line to try and cover my brain whilst I whimpered.
‘To the couple whose last words of love kept me believing the good in the world.
‘To the complete strangers who picked me up from the road and consoled me during the 45 minutes I truly believed the boy I loved was dead.
Relief: ‘Being a survivor of this horror lets me able to shed light on the heroes,’ wrote 22-year-old South African survivor Isobel Bowdery
Escape: People escape from the Bataclan concert hall. Survivor Philippe, 35, told AFP, ‘From the balcony they started shooting into the pit. When they backed up to reload I got up and I ran, I ran to the exit and I didn’t stop until the Metro’
‘To the injured man who I had mistaken for him and then on my recognition that he was not Amaury, held me and told me everything was going to be fine despite being all alone and scared himself.
‘To the friend who offered me shelter and went out to buy new clothes so I wouldn’t have to wear this blood stained top.’
The young woman hails these strangers as heroes, and says that the luck that allowed her survived means she must shed light on the courageous acts of those that didn’t and to ‘not let those men win’.
The series of co-ordinated terror attacks in Paris have left a total 129 people killed, 352 injured and 99 in critical condition.
As many as 80 people were killed in the attack on the Bataclan concert hall alone which saw gunmen massacre the audience with Kalashnikovs while the kept up to 100 people hostage before police stormed the venue.
French riot police appear to hold a man down on the streets of Paris, following the series of deadly attacks in the French capital
SURVIVOR’S RECOUNTS HORRIFIC ORDEAL
‘You never think it will happen to you. It was just a Friday night at a rock show. The atmosphere was so happy and everyone was dancing and smiling.
And then when the men came through the front entrance and began the shooting, we naively believed it was all part of the show.
It wasn’t just a terrorist attack, it was a massacre.
Dozens of people were shot right in front of me. Pools of blood filled the floor. Cries of grown men who held their girlfriends dead bodies pierced the small music venue. Futures demolished, families heartbroken. In an instant.
Shocked and alone, I pretended to be dead for over an hour, lying among people who could see their loved ones motionless.. Holding my breath, trying to not move, not cry – not giving those men the fear they longed to see.
I was incredibly lucky to survive. But so many didn’t. The people who had been there for the exact same reasons as I – to have a fun Friday night were innocent. This world is cruel. And acts like this are suppose to highlight the depravity of humans and the images of those men circling us like vultures will haunt me for the rest of my life.
The way they meticulously aimed at shot people around the standing area I was in the centre of without any consideration for human life. It didn’t feel real. I expected any moment for someone to say it was just a nightmare. But being a survivor of this horror lets me able to shed light on the heroes.
To the man who reassured me and put his life on line to try and cover my brain whilst i whimpered, to the couple whose last words of love kept me believing the good in the world, to the police who succeeded in rescuing hundreds of people, to the complete strangers who picked me up from the road and consoled me during the 45 minutes I truly believed the boy i loved was dead, to the injured man who i had mistaken for him and then on my recognition that he was not Amaury, held me and told me everything was going to be fine despite being all alone and scared himself, to the woman who opened her doors to the survivors, to the friend who offered me shelter and went out to buy new clothes so I wouldn’t have to wear this blood stained top, to all of you who have sent caring messages of support – you make me believe this world has the potential to be better. To never let this happen again.
But most of this is to the 80 people who were murdered inside that venue, who weren’t as lucky, who didn’t get to wake up today and to all the pain that their friends and families are going through. I am so sorry. There’s nothing that will fix the pain. I feel privileged to be there for their last breaths. And truly believing that I would join them, I promise that their last thoughts were not on the animals who caused all this. It was thinking of the people they loved. As I lay down in the blood of strangers and waiting for my bullet to end my mere 22 years, I envisioned every face that I have ever loved and whispered I love you. Over and over again. reflecting on the highlights of my life.
Wishing that those I love knew just how much, wishing that they knew that no matter what happened to me, to keep believing in the good in people.
To not let those men win.
Last night, the lives of many were forever changed and it is up to us to be better people.
To live lives that the innocent victims of this tragedy dreamed about but sadly will now never be able to fulfill.
RIP angels. You will never be forgotten.
Via Dailymail