Phoenix Rising: Terror Victim to Burn Survivor

On the fateful night of October 12, 2002, I was in the Sari Club, which is located in the busy entertainment precinct of Kuta, Bali - one of Indonesia's key international tourist destinations. It was hot and humid, the music was pumping and everyone was talking, laughing and dancing.

Seated behind the sunken bar, I struck up conversation with two Australian girls. Suddenly, a deafening explosion rocked the Legian beach strip. We looked south towards Paddy's Bar and witnessed a black mushroom cloud of smoke rise from the roof.

Someone shouted, 'What the hell was that?'

Only seconds later, the Bintang bottle in my hand shattered, as a powerful car bomb ripped apart the Sari Club.

I was buried alive and fighting for my life!

This despicable attack was carried out by the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network. It claimed the lives of 202 people, including 88 Australians. 240 were wounded, including me.

Suffering severe burns to 60% of my body, I also had to cope with shrapnel injuries, bi-lateral hearing loss, swelling on the brain and severe infection. After being told that I would not survive, I spent 44 days in an induced coma, fighting to stay alive. When I finally learned to walk again and regain movement in all parts of my body, I was the last Bali bombings survivor to leave a Western Australian hospital...some 2 months and 21 days after first being admitted.

There is no doubt that severe burn injuries have the potential to be soul-destroying. However, with careful management and an excellent support base,

you can recover and go on to lead a relatively normal, happy and fulfilled life. I hope this book provides some inspiration to those of you who have suffered the indignity of burn injuries, but have had the great fortune to survive them!

50% of proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to the Fiona Wood Foundation.