Five Years Later, The Face Of The London Bombings Shares Her Story

After the London bombings of 7/7, the image of a burned woman, her face covered in a gauze mask, quickly became iconic. Five years later, how is Davinia Turrell?

The 5th anniversary of the London subway bombings summons sober memories of a day of terror, in which 52 people were killed and more than 700 injured, and a renewed sense of caution set in. Today, survivors and families of victims will lay flowers by 52 steel pillars in Hyde Park.

It was, I think, the great Mister Rogers who advised parents, when faced with horror, to tell their children to “look for the helpers” – for out of any story of cruelty and carnage inevitably come other stories of heroism, unselfishness, and optimism.

One such story is that of the recovery of Davinia Turrell, who was injured in the Edgware Road bombings and became the unwitting “face” of the suicide attacks when her bandaged image became a grim byword. Now 29, the BBC reports that she goes by the married name Davinia Douglass. And, in a testament to the skill of London’s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, she is almost completely unscarred. In a show of appreciation for their work, she’s backing the hospital’s £50,000 fundraising appeal; for this reason, she has chosen the fifth anniversary of the attacks to share her recovery. The funds would ensure an onsite clinical psychologist for burn victims.

Also heartening, Douglass’s statement to the Telegraph: “London is my home and I continue to use the Tube everyday.”

London Terror Attack Victim Reveals New Face [Telegraph]
7/7 Victim’s Remarkable Healing[BBC]