Bali bombings survivor speaks for first time since attack that killed her mother - 9News

Among the 88 Australians killed at the Bali bombings in 2002 were five mothers on holiday together with their teenage daughters.

The teens survived the deadly blast purely because they were at the back of the Sari Club, where the second bomb went off.

Ashleigh Airlie was 14 years old when her mother Gayle was killed in the terror attack.

Now, 20 years on, she is telling her story for the first time.

Ashleigh Airlie was 14 years old when her mother Gayle was killed in the terror attack in Bali. (Nine)

"When I think about it, that's the last place I had a good time with my mum," Ashleigh, now 34, told 9News.

"It was the last place we had fun and she was having the time of her life."

It was peak party time at the clubs in Kuta, and just two days before Ashleigh's 15th birthday when terrorists began their co-ordinated attack.

The first blast was at Paddy's Bar and it sent a crowd of survivors running onto the street. A short time later the second, much larger car bomb went off outside Sari.

It was peak party time at the clubs in Kuta, and just two days before Ashleigh's 15th birthday when terrorists began their co-ordinated attack which killed her mother. (Nine)

"All the kids were kind of just kind of like more towards the back. And the parents were a bit more at the front … but obviously they were closer to the front where the bomb went off," Ashleigh said.

She recalls being thrown backwards when the blast hit.

"It was almost like I didn't know that it had happened, and then the next minute I was on the floor. And the roof was on top of my head.

"And it was just really dark and could just feel somebody's legs in front of me and I just grabbed onto their legs and just kept going."

Ashleigh Airlie was 14 when she survived the Bali bombings - now she's telling her story for the first time. (9News)

The teenager managed to escape the burning club, but out on the street, the shock set in. 

"We were running down this lane that was all full of shrapnel and glass and I could hardly walk because my feet were all cut, and we just stood on the street all screaming for our mums."

Among the 88 Australians killed at the Bali bombings in 2002 were five mothers on holiday together with their teenage daughters, including Gayle Airlie. (Nine)

The five mums who teamed up for the holiday with their daughters — Gayle Airlie, Gerardine Buchan, Catherine Seelin, Kathy Salvatori and Lynette McKeon — never made it home.

"It never gets better," Ashleigh said.

"Grief is continually changing and evolving and now that I have a daughter it's a completely different set of grief and I'm missing so many different parts of my mum that I didn't even realise before."

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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMifGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LjluZXdzLmNvbS5hdS9uYXRpb25hbC9iYWxpLWJvbWJpbmdzLXRlZW4tc3Vydml2b3Itc3BlYWtzLW91dC1hdXN0cmFsaWEtbmV3cy8wMjM5MjViNC1jZTJkLTQ4NjgtYjgyOS02Y2ZjZGNmZGIxOWLSAQA?oc=5

2022-10-10 07:53:10Z
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