Posted on 10/16/2002 7:47:07 PM PDT by Glutton
Bali bomb blast victim Christian Cronje is back in Cape Town as one of the few lucky survivors of the Bali blasts - but his dream holiday has been replaced by a nightmare.
At the N1 City Hospital on Tuesday the 27-year-old chartered accountant recalled the horrific events that are etched forever in his memory.
He was dancing in one of the packed tourist bars on Kuta Beach when the bomb exploded.
One of his injuries gives an inkling of the power of the explosion: bone shards of another victim penetrated his arm.
"I had arrived in Kuta at about midday, just hours before the blast. I'd slept a bit on the aircraft going over and I had gone to the Sari bar (the other nightspot shattered by a blast) after settling in," he said.
"The place was full and very busy. I later moved across the road to Paddy's Bar.
"I was sitting at the bar when there was this explosion and I saw flames billowing across into the bar, just before I got knocked down.
"A second blast went off in Paddy's Bar. Some people said afterwards that it was the gas cylinders exploding after being set off by the first blast, but later people said there was a bomb in Paddy's Bar too.
"People were screaming all over. Seconds after the second explosion, I ran out of the place and down the road with my hands behind my head.
"I dived down behind a wall. While I was lying there, I discovered I was bleeding, so I got up and ran into the street.
"There, a very kind taxi driver grabbed me and pushed me into his car. He raced me to the airport and left me at a hospital."
Cronje said his legs were lacerated when he fell down in the bar, and his right arm was badly cut.
There was a piece of human bone lodged in his arm and, his father said his arm was "not looking good".
Cronje said his first impression of Bali had been that the people were incredibly friendly and helpful.
His travel agent, True Blue, dealt with a company called Panorama in Bali and both agents were very efficient in sorting out his documentation after the bombing.
"I couldn't do anything. I could not write or send faxes with my injured arm and they did everything for me.
"Doctors and volunteer nurses were very efficient and helped where they could. I could not believe the help these people gave me.
"I was flown to Singapore, where people from my brother-in-law's company met me at the airport and helped me get sorted out there, before I got a flight back to South Africa. Help and sympathy was just pouring in from all over.
"I will certainly go back there. They are peaceful, religious people and we all know it wasn't them who planted the bombs."
But going back is another story.
Cronje worked at local accountancy firm Ernst & Young to save up for the year of travel, only to find the rand dropping like lead. Then he went to work in England to save up more money.
Now all that is gone.
"I would have spent two months surfing in Bali and then I would have travelled up along the island chain and made my way to Nepal to hike around the Himalayas for a bit.
"I planned to be away for a year. Now I will probably have to find a job again."
Cronje has been admitted to hospital in Stellenbosch for a few days of treatment to his arm. After that, he plans to join his parents in Stilbaai to recuperate and plan his next move.
"Obviously we are very happy to have him back safe with us, but I feel so sorry for him because he put so much into planning his travels," his father said.
"But we are thinking of those poor people who were not as fortunate as he was over there. It is truly terrible."
Much needed since 911.
Hmmm, in Israel, people had to get shots after being penetrated by body fragments. Possible Hepatitus infections and so forth. I hope this guy remembers to get his shots.
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