London bombings: how one passenger saved a life

Jason Rennie, who was in the carriage of the Circle Line train blown up by Mohammed Sidique Khan, tore up his own shirt to make a tourniquet to apply to David Gardner’s leg.

Mr Rennie, who was giving evidence via videolink from Dubai, told the hearings at the Royal Courts of Justice in London that after the blast he walked through the badly damaged carriage towards the sound of a man shouting “help me, help me”.

He described a horrific scene inside the carriage, strewn with body parts, and said at one point he stood on the body of a man.

Horrific scenes

When he reached the other end of the carriage, Mr Rennie found a man lodged in the crater caused by the bomb.

“I remember it was still fairly gloomy and the first thing I saw was his hand, and his hand was stretched out,” he told the hearing.

“I saw his hand first, and as I got closer, I saw a gentleman lodged in what must have been a hole created by the bomb. It was almost as if he had sat in it, so his armpits and the back of his knees were stopping him from falling down, but his backside, if you will, was hanging in the hole and he had his hand out and was asking to be assisted in getting out of the hole, he wanted someone to pull him out.

I remember it was still fairly gloomy and the first thing I saw was his hand, and his hand was stretched out. Survivor of the 7/7 bombings Jason Rennie describes the scene at Edgware Road.

“I didn’t see all of it at first, again because it was a little bit murky, but I remember walking slowly forward and grabbing his hand.

“I couldn’t get a decent grip, it wasn’t very strong, my feet were slipping on what I noticed was blood, and he kept trying to pull against me as well, so I kept feeling I was going to be pulled further forward.”

Mr Rennie said another passenger tried to help pull the man out of the crater but they realised his injuries were so severe, that moving him could be more dangerous than leaving him in position.

The man in the crater was 52-year-old Stan Brewster, a civil engineer for Derbyshire County Council who was in London for a meeting. Mr Rennie said he died around 20 minutes after the explosion.

The London bombings inquest is now in its fifth week. It is expected to last up to five months and is being held entirely open to the public after the coroner ruled this was the best option and rejected MI5 secret sessions.

But a new row developed today when the Home Secretary, Theresa May, said she was seeking a judicial review of this decision.

Her move was condemned as "outrageous" by one lawyer acting for the families of six of those killed in the London bombings.

"The Coroner has already said that there are no circumstances in which she will allow the personal safety of any member of the Security Service or the interests of national security to be put at risk," said Clifford Tibber, of Anthony Gold solicitors.

"The Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister are both on record as supporting a public inquiry. The Government have twice failed to introduce legislation to hold inquests in secret and now they are trying to introduce it through the back door. What have they got to hide?

"It is deeply regrettable that they have waited so long before suggesting that evidence can be heard in secret. The families are already suffering distressing evidence about their loved ones and the Government should be ashamed at themselves for inflicting additional strain upon them at this time.

"We hope that the Home Secretary will reconsider her position."

Cries for help

While attempting to help Mr Brewster, Mr Rennie said someone started patting his leg, saying “Look, don’t stand on me”.

The man – David Gardner – had suffered serious injuries to his legs and was bleeding heavily. Mr Rennie – who himself had suffered a head injury and shrapnel wounds to his wrist – said he realised he needed to make a tourniquet for Mr Gardner’s leg.

He said: “I took my shirt off, tore it up as best I could. Because I couldn’t use my right hand, I used my teeth and my left hand, tore the shirt up, lifted his leg up, wrapped it around his leg and tied it up, which was quite painful for him.

“There was blood everywhere on the seats, on the floor, everywhere. I couldn’t tell which was his, which was other people’s. I couldn’t really tell, because literally it was working in the dark.”

Read more from Channel 4 News on the July 7 bombings inquest 

Fellow passengers used their mobile phones to illuminate the scene, as another commuter and two trainee nurses who were on a train travelling in the opposite direction came onto the bombed train to help.

At one stage, Mr Rennie described looking down the carriage at another passenger, desperately trying to save one of the victims.

“I remember seeing a gentleman, it looked like he was applying CPR to someone,” he told the inquest.

“I remember looking up and seeing him sit back, he had blood all around his mouth, and he looked almost resigned or upset because it didn’t appear as if he was being successful.”

Delayed paramedics

It took at least 40 minutes for paramedics to arrive in the bombed carriage, according to Mr Rennie. The inquest has already been told the first ambulance didn’t arrive at Edgware Road until almost 25 minutes after the explosion.

Mr Rennie had completed 18 months of national service in South Africa, although he said he had never experienced anything like the London bombings.

When he finished giving evidence, the coroner, Lady Justice Hallet, thanked him for his efforts.

“Training did play a part in your response that day but for the most part it was your strength of character. Despite your own injury you did everything possible to help the dead and the dying and we thank you for that,” she said.

Moment of the explosion

The inquest then heard from David Gardner, who described the moment of the explosion.

“To me it sounded like a balloon bursting,” he said.

“Then I’m flying through the air really from my seated position. Obviously dark, black soot…everything hitting each other. Noise, and then I came to – it seemed to last forever. I would describe it like Alice in Wonderland going down a rabbit hole.”

Mr Gardner said he landed on the floor in front of where he was sitting.

I would describe it like Alice in Wonderland going down a rabbit hole. Survivor of the 7/7 bombings, David Gardner.

“I felt I heard the noises of confusion, of chaos, maybe some screams, maybe people making a noise. And then a sort of hush descended.

“I felt over my body. I was wearing a dark navy suit, I think, at the time and then I started feeling… below my legs and I remember feeling something terribly mushy…which I discovered and realised was my left leg, and that that was in a bad way and that I was sort of stuck there in that position.”

A saviour

Mr Gardner described “a saviour” arriving “in the form of Jason Rennie” and recalled the efforts Mr Rennie made to treat his injured leg.

As Mr Rennie talked to him, in an attempt to keep him conscious, the pair learned they had both done national service at the same camp in South Africa.

While lying in the carriage, Mr Gardner also talked about the Shakespeare play he was due to appear in (he was carrying a copy of the script at the time of the explosion).

The inquest heard he performed the play a year later, on July 7, 2006. He invited Mr Rennie to watch the performance.

Mr Gardner said he had named his second child after the paramedic who eventually arrived in the carriage and who he credits with helping to save his life.

“If it was a boy I would have named it after Jason,” he said.

He was the first survivor to be operated upon at St Mary’s Hospital, and underwent five-and-a-half hours of surgery to remove his leg and spleen.

Six people were murdered at Edgware Road. They were: Michael “Stan” Brewster, 52, from Derby; Jonathan Downey, 34, from Milton Keynes; David Foulkes, 22, from Oldham, Greater Manchester; Colin Morley, 52, from Finchley, north London; Jennifer Nicholson, 24, from Reading, Berkshire and Laura Webb, 29, from Islington, north London.