Saturday 8 April 2017

Not Guilty! and The Guilt That Never Goes Away

Not Guilty! and The Guilt That Never Goes Away 

"Get over it." "It's time you moved on."  I wish it was that easy.

For many years I thought it was just me. Feeling guilty for climbing out of Pen 3, physically unscathed, when all around me there was mayhem, injury and death.  

Over time I have met others who survived that hell on 15th April 1989 and I realised it wasn't only me. I've seen my feelings written down more than once, the latest time this very morning, but they were written by others, not by me. People who by a sheer twist of fate found themselves in midst of this carnage caused by the failings of many.

On 26th April 2016 I sat with my wife in the calm of Hillsborough Oaks and listened as the inquest verdicts were announced. I was relieved and emotional that they'd got it right. Us fans were exonerated. We were not guilty. I wish we didn't have to live with the absurd guilt of survival. 

This month is hard and over the next week it will get harder. If you know someone who like me escaped that hell hole please be there for them in which ever way they need. It will be difficult and different for each of us and we cope in our own way. We have done for 28 years. 



Justice for the 96. 
Justice for all.
We Never Walked Alone.