Bombing victims keep their spirits high

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.