Bombing victims keep their spirits high

By Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Annastashya Emmanuelle

JAKARTA (JP): Junior high school student Agnes Jessica Winarto, one of the victims of Sunday's bomb blast in a church here, has not yet realized that she has lost her right leg.

Agnes, who is still being treated at the intensive care unit of St. Carolus Hospital in Central Jakarta, sometimes asks the nurse to rub the sole of her right foot and put a pillow under her right foot.

Neither the doctors nor her family members have informed her that her right leg has been amputated, considering her unstable emotional condition.

The family, according to Agnes' uncle Ari Kristianto, 41, would tell her about it soon after she leaves the intensive care unit.

"I cannot predict her reaction, but our family will always support her, particularly psychologically," he remarked.

Agnes was participating in the first mass at St. Anna Catholic church in Duren Sawit, East Jakarta, when a powerful blast ripped through the church and injured dozens of congregation members.

Among the victims, 14-year-old Agnes suffered more serious injuries. Besides her right leg, her left leg was also broken, while her right optical nerve and eardrum were ruptured.

She cannot see through her right eye and cannot hear clearly.

As of Tuesday, Agnes was still being treated at the emergency ward but reported to be in a stable physical condition and able to communicate with others.

Agnes, a senior student of Budaya junior high school in Duren Sawit area, sometimes asked for food and wanted to meet her teachers as she worried about being absent from school, Ari said.

Ari said Agnes' family felt so disappointed and sad due to the blast but they believed that the incident would bring them closer to God.

Another victim, Bernardus Setiawan, 26, also lost his right leg which was also amputated at St. Carolus hospital.

"I saw pieces of my right leg in front of me during the incident, but I felt nothing. I could even help someone at that time."

Bernardus, a security guard of Tarakanita high school in Kebayoran Baru, attended Sunday's congregation with his girlfriend who also suffered injuries to her legs.

Bernardus said he could accept his condition as part of his destiny. What he needed now was an artificial leg.

Nursing their injuries, many other survivors of the bomb blast in St. Anna Catholic church are still counting their blessings although some expressed their outrage that they became victims of the power struggle among the political elite.

"I don't blame anyone for this and I thank God I'm still alive. However, I do hope the political elite could somehow reach a compromise because we, the ordinary people, are always the victims," said victim Theresia Tri Suhartati at the St. Carolus hospital, Central Jakarta, where she is being treated.

Theresia, a resident of Bintara Jaya in West Bekasi, was still struggling to regain her sight.

Another victim, Yoppy Patinama, was also thankful that she was still alive and even suffered less than other victims of the bomb blast.

"There are others who suffered more than I. Compared to them, I still have something to be thankful about," she said.

Yoppy urged people not to allow differences in politics and faith to become a source of unrest in the country.

"Wouldn't it be beautiful if we could all live in harmony, in spite of our differences?" she told the Post as she revisited the ruins of the church.

At the relief post set up by the St. Anna congregation in the front yard of the church, Yoppy was surrounded by friends keen to hear her story.

The bomb, that exploded at 7:05 a.m. on Sunday, destroyed the back part of the church.

Most windows were shattered, parts of the ceiling collapsed and a crater on the floor marked where the bomb was planted.

At the administration office at the back of the church, officials had piled up hundreds of prayer books, footwear and other belongings of the churchgoers, some of which were bloodstained.

"Nowhere in this world would someone plant a bomb inside a place of worship. This is a truly barbaric and inhuman act," said Father Suryatma Suryawijaya who was leading the service on Sunday when the bomb exploded.

Church services have been temporarily moved to a nearby public hall until the church is fully restored.

"I hope this will be the last of it. Let people practice their religion in peace," Father Suryatma said.