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Nurse injured in clinic bombing speaks out
March 2, 1998
Lyons
Web posted at: 2:14 p.m. EST (1914 GMT)BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (CNN) -- The nurse seriously injured in a January 29 health clinic bombing displayed a spirit of defiance Monday and publicly vowed that she "will not stay down."
Speaking in a crowded hospital news conference, Emily Lyons, at the request of investigators, would not say what, if anything, she remembers of the attack on the Birmingham clinic where abortions are performed. The bombing killed an off-duty Birmingham policeman, Robert Sanderson.
Lyons said the bombing accomplished nothing for opponents of abortion.
Brimingham clinic "If your goal was to shut the clinic down or to shut me down -- it didn't work," Lyons said. "It's not going to work: the clinics will stay open, the workers will continue to come, the patients will continue to come."
Lyons was a counselor as well as a nurse at the New Woman All Women clinic. She was blinded in the attack and lost sight permanently in one eye, but the other is expected to heal.
Lyons, whose face was scarred from the bomb shrapnel, said the bomb attack could have hit anybody. "I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time that day.
"I want everyone to know that this person survives," she said. "I will not stay down."
Emily Lyons speaks with reporters for the first time since the blast Lyons discusses her condition with reporters 403K/30 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Lyons speaks to the bomber who targeted the clinic 245K/22 sec. AIFF or WAV sound "... in the wrong place at the wrong time" 185K/18 sec. AIFF or WAV sound With her husband, Jeff Lyons, at her side, Lyons said the hardest part of her injuries is that she still is unable to see.
She said the most physically painful part is her badly injured left leg.
She said doctors have told her she should be able to do whatever she wants within six months to a year.
But Lyons said she's not sure if she will be physically able to return to work at the clinic.
"It is hard to accept this was no accident. Someone intended to do this," said Lyons, seated in a wheelchair.
Eric Robert Rudolph, a North Carolina man whose truck was seen near the clinic, has been charged in the fatal bombing but remains a fugitive.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Special Section:
Related stories:
- Sources: Evidence links Birmingham, Atlanta bombings - February 27, 1998
- Source: Birmingham suspect owned bomb-making book - February 25, 1998
- Nails link Birmingham suspect to Atlanta bombing - February 24, 1998
- Rudolph's family backs out of news conference - February 19, 1998
- Report: Nitro traces found in suspect's truck - February 18, 1998
Related sites:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
- FBI - Witness to Birmingham Clinic Bombing
- Jefferson County Sheriff's Department
- U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
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