Newlyweds thankful for escape<\/p>\n
Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
"I have had a glimpse of hell. Well, sort of," said Zaenal
\nAbidin, 29, whose arms were burned in last week's JW Marriott
\nHotel blast.<\/p>\n
He was in the Sailendra Restaurant located off the hotel's
\nlobby when the blast occurred just few meters from where he
\nstood.<\/p>\n
"I heard a big bang and suddenly I was surrounded by a
\nfireball," Zaenal told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday at Pertamina
\nCentral Hospital in South Jakarta, where he is hospitalized.<\/p>\n
He said that at that very moment he thought of God and wished
\nfor more time with his wife, Salmah, 21, whom he married on June
\n24, approximately six weeks before the blast, and to see his
\nchild born. Salmah is thought to be two weeks' pregnant.<\/p>\n
He feels grateful, as though he has been given a second
\nchance.<\/p>\n
"I will be more pious from now on," he said.<\/p>\n
Twelve people were killed and 147 others injured in the
\nMarriott blast, the fifth bombing to have rocked the capital this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Death can strike at anytime and at any place, and Zaenal had
\nbeen trying to avoid public places ever since the Bali bombing in
\nOctober last year.<\/p>\n
"Now I'll avoid them even more," he said.<\/p>\n
Zaenal, an engineer at PT Dharma Muda Pratama oil company, was
\ntreating a group of clients to lunch at the restaurant.<\/p>\n
"I always thought that the area around the hotel was quite
\nsafe until last week," said the engineer, whose office is located
\nat Menara Rajawali, just a block from the hotel.<\/p>\n
After the blast, Zaenal was particularly worried about his
\nwife, because he was afraid that just a little stress could cause
\na miscarriage.<\/p>\n
He said he and his wife had yet to have a honeymoon because
\nthey still had to visit a number of relatives in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Zaenal said that according to the doctors, he would have to
\nstay in the hospital for another month to treat the burns on his
\narms, nape, the crown of his head and his left ear. He was also
\nwounded on his left arm and in the abdomen.<\/p>\n
It will take another two months of total rest for him to
\nregain his strength and the use of him arms.<\/p>\n
"Next month, after I get out of the hospital, my wife and I
\nwill stay at my parents house in Bangil, East Java," he said.<\/p>\n
"Perhaps that will be our honeymoon," he said, with his wife
\nlooking on.<\/p>\n
"Well, looking on the bright side, we don't have to spend our
\nhoneymoon in a hotel room. Instead we have a first-class room in
\nthis hospital," he said, grimacing in pain at his injuries for a
\nmoment.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/newlyweds-thankful-for-escape-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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