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Gill Hicks: Triumph Over Tragedy — Transcript

by CGTN America · 2,885 words · 408 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00[Music]
0:10Australia and Jill Hicks is a member of
0:13a tragic and exclusive club on July 7th
0:15of 2005 Jill began her morning like she
0:18always did hopping on a busy commuter
0:20train on the same train not far from her
0:23was a suicide bomber she barely survived
0:26the 2005 London terrorist attacks that
0:29killed 26 passengers the blast resulted
0:31in the loss of both of her legs below
0:33the knee needless to say it drastically
0:36changed her life but instead of being
0:38consumed with bitterness Hicks has
0:40become one of the most inspiring
0:42powerful and life-affirming speakers in
0:44the world following the attack
0:46Hicks left her successful career in
0:48architecture and design now she works on
0:50initiatives aimed both at ending violent
0:53extremism and building sustainable
0:55models for peace in 2007 she founded mad
0:58for peace and nonprofit organization
1:00that connects people worldwide and
1:02encourages us to think of peace as a
1:05verb something she believes we should
1:07all do on a daily basis Jill Hicks joins
1:11us now from London via satellite to
1:12share her remarkable story and the
1:14courage and determination it takes the
1:17triumph over tragedy welcome to full
1:19frame hello thank you
1:22talk to me about that day what do you
1:23remember about that morning quite
1:27extraordinary really I mean anyone that
1:29that has ever commuted in London will
1:33know of the absolute choreography that's
1:38there in the way that you move around
1:41the station and move on to a tube train
1:44and eventually get to your destination
1:46because there is hundreds and hundreds
1:49of people in that commuter time frame
1:51every morning and usually for me I was a
1:56very proud workaholic who would always
1:59be at my office sitting at my desk at
2:037:30 every morning I think the thing
2:07that's really could almost drive me to
2:10the brink of insanity is to explore what
2:14went why was that morning so different
2:16for me why was July 7 so different that
2:19made me late
2:21that I ended up boarding the same
2:23carriage at the same time as a suicide
2:26bomber and we now know that the the bomb
2:30was detonated at ten to nine so clearly
2:34out of any timeframe that I would
2:36normally been in so for me it's an
2:39extraordinary set of circumstances that
2:42led me to be in that train carriage at
2:44that same time standing just feet from
2:48the suicide bomber hmm and you say you
2:51heard the voice of death after the
2:53explosion explain that to our viewers
2:56again my experience was was
3:00extraordinary and we were in the
3:04carriage for approximately an hour
3:06before rescue could reach us so from the
3:09time of of the bomb going off until
3:12rescue was able to get down into the
3:14tunnel was a wrap was roughly an hour
3:16and I've really had time now to reflect
3:20on just how precious that hour was for
3:25me because in that timeframe I had the
3:29most extraordinary experience facing my
3:33own death and death appeared to me as
3:38the most beautiful female voice and it
3:44was only by listening to this voice that
3:46I was even aware that I'd lost both my
3:49legs because this beautiful voice just
3:52said to me Jill you don't want to live
3:55like this you've lost both legs come
3:58with me
3:59close your eyes and as I was
4:01contemplating the beauty of going into
4:05this other place the voice of life
4:09kicked in and it was male and it was
4:13angry and it said to me how dare you
4:18even for a single minute entertain the
4:23idea of not being here because there's a
4:25lot for you to do but I was very clear
4:28that it was my choice that I didn't have
4:32have to that no one was making that
4:34choice for
4:35me I got to choose whether I wanted to
4:37live or whether I wanted to pass and in
4:42making the decision to live it was
4:46incredible of just the calm that washed
4:50over me
4:51and indeed the somehow the know-how of
4:56what to do next to save my own life I
4:59ended up torniquet the tops of my legs
5:02lowering my breathing rate keeping
5:05myself upright and just focusing on my
5:09watch face putting everything in the
5:13tube outside of my realm of vision so I
5:18wasn't affected by what I was seeing and
5:20just focusing waiting for rescue to get
5:23here it was truly the most extraordinary
5:27time I've ever had and it really gave me
5:31an insight into how how precious our
5:35lives are and how much there is for us
5:38individually to be doing whilst we're
5:40here you mentioned this angry voice and
5:43in you know looking at your life to me
5:47you could have been consumed with anger
5:50and bitterness and you could have also
5:53thought about strangers in house that
5:55one stranger on that train impacted your
5:57life and and that would be one Avenue to
5:59go down but instead you chose a
6:01different Avenue you you went you sought
6:03out Andy one of the rescuers you went
6:05back to the hospital where people helped
6:07you on the road to recovery other
6:09strangers who were kind of angels in
6:12your life
6:13I talked to me about that path because
6:15you could have gone either Road and you
6:17chose the right one in my estimation I
6:20think what's really interesting is that
6:22I am angry and I do get angrier as the
6:27years go by but that anger I've managed
6:31to use as my motivation so I've managed
6:33to make that a very positive source to
6:36keep me going to keep me working in
6:39peace to keep me wanting to make a
6:41difference but I think what really hit
6:45me was the moment I read
6:48the ID label that was given to me when I
6:51when I was admitted to hospital and
6:52rather chillingly said one unknown
6:57estimated female now those four words
7:02mic just changed everything for me
7:04because I just understood exactly how
7:10brilliant humanity actually is despite
7:14the actions of one person there were
7:17many many that risked their own lives to
7:21come and save mine to come and save as
7:24many as they could and to them it didn't
7:27matter what color my skin was indeed if
7:30I was male or female if I was rich or
7:33poor if I had a faith or no faith at all
7:36nothing mattered other than I was a
7:40precious human being and that's what
7:42that label said to me and it's as if
7:44that was the greatest gift I could have
7:47received because in reading that label I
7:50felt completely connected to a beauty
7:54around my experience rather than the
7:57horror of my experience and that's why I
8:00endeavoured to find everybody that was
8:03involved in my rescue because I wanted
8:06to say thank you for loving me thank you
8:10for showing me through your actions how
8:13I can live in my second life and I
8:18actually have bandage to track down
8:21every single person involved and given
8:25them the greatest hug and just said
8:28thank you thank you for everything
8:30you've given me it's interesting you
8:33said you are angry and I guess maybe
8:35that feeds into the name of your
8:37nonprofit mad for peace talk to us about
8:39the name well I like it a lot because
8:44it's actually an acronym for making a
8:46difference but I like the quirkiness
8:48around you know it it's also about being
8:52mad and it's about being mad enough to
8:54want to do something to create positive
8:57change and I think that for me is is why
9:01I've gone into the into the world of
9:03peacebuilding because I see peace as a
9:06need for us to make an action it's not
9:10passive in my view it's something that
9:12we really have to do and consciously be
9:15thinking about how we do this with each
9:18other with each other every single day
9:21you talked about action and you know
9:23what's interesting to me is we think of
9:26victims after a bombing like this and
9:29clearly you would fall into that
9:30category but I think the other thing
9:33that I found fascinating about you is
9:34you you sought out other victims and
9:36people that a lot of us wouldn't even
9:38recognize his victims you went back to
9:40this neighborhood this town where where
9:43these bombers came from where there's
9:45this guilt by association where the
9:47people there were living talk to me
9:49about that and and not only for your
9:51healing but the healing of that town why
9:53was that journey so important for me it
9:56was it was absolutely vital because I
9:58immediately felt when I was in hospital
10:00that I needed to understand I looked at
10:04the picture of this 19 year old suicide
10:07bomber and I just felt I need to
10:11understand why he and the three other
10:15colleagues have done this action I need
10:18to understand because I need to make a
10:20difference and to do everything possible
10:23to be part of the solution for this
10:26never to happen again so I went to the
10:29source and what I found was a community
10:33absolutely grieving and themselves at a
10:37complete loss as to how this had
10:39happened in their town with their boys
10:41and I worked very closely with them i
10:45sat with them and I said to the
10:47community leaders what is it we can do
10:50because we need to work together this is
10:53the only way I can see that we will have
10:56a complete strength and find a solution
10:59by working together and yet wonderfully
11:02actually just one of the ideas I almost
11:05flippantly just put on the table was how
11:09about I recreate the journey that those
11:12bombers took coming from the north
11:15of England right down to London and how
11:18about I walk that journey and I almost
11:23said it as a bit of a joke but
11:25unanimously around this table all the
11:28community rate leaders completely agreed
11:31and said that would be amazing so I
11:34ended up walking on prosthetic legs from
11:38the top of England down to London and
11:41took about a month on the road and I
11:44walked through 22 towns and cities and
11:48my message was please for anyone that
11:52you feel that you are opposing their
11:54ideas or that you think that you are
11:57very different from come and walk and
12:00talk to each other from mile and I
12:03guarantee you at the end of a mile even
12:07if you don't agree you can agree to
12:09disagree and what I found over and over
12:14again was this brilliance of humanity
12:17that people came together people were
12:20having the the tough conversations with
12:22each other and it was remarkable they
12:25they met as strangers and left as
12:27friends so it was a project that was
12:32absolutely astounding I don't think I'd
12:35do it again it took me six months to
12:38recover but we need to keep you know
12:41keep keep things fresh so I don't think
12:43I'll be walking that route anytime soon
12:46as you work with this initiative clearly
12:50you have to see what's happened in
12:52Brussels in Paris Baghdad San Bernadino
12:55do you get discouraged or do you look at
12:58the impact you're having and the small
13:00victories along the way it's very hard
13:03Mike
13:04i-i've gone into a world where it is
13:09very difficult to measure success how do
13:12you measure success of of peace of
13:16peacefulness when we turn on our news
13:18and see these atrocities happening
13:21throughout the world the only thing I
13:24think that that keeps me going
13:27is that there
13:29more of us in the world then there are
13:32of those who are following such a
13:34destructive ideology and if we can reach
13:37out to each other and understand very
13:40strongly United shoulder-to-shoulder
13:44heart-to-heart I really do believe that
13:48we can not only just face this but we
13:51will see the other side of terrorism
13:54this is an ideology based on power based
13:59on the idea of of promise and purpose so
14:02my job is to is to then say how do we
14:06find the other ideas how do we find the
14:08positive ideology that we can all rally
14:11around and follow that and not meet
14:14hatred with hatred but that seems to be
14:18the direction where a lot of people are
14:20headed and I know you say it's important
14:23choice is important choose choice the
14:26power of choice talk to me about that
14:28again stemming back from my experience
14:31in the carriage you know what what I've
14:33really come to understand is that we may
14:37not be able to control the events in our
14:40lives or in the world but what we can
14:43control is how we react and respond so
14:47our choice is our power no one can ever
14:51take our choice and I think that tapping
14:56back into that reminding ourselves of
14:59the incredible power we have as
15:01individuals in choosing how we react how
15:05we respond is actually quite
15:08transformational have you won under
15:10people who say no no you're wrong you
15:12know the only way to you gotta meet
15:14force with force I mean do you get the
15:16argument that counter argument all the
15:18time all the time and and and that's
15:21because people are passionate about this
15:23people are angry you know we are living
15:27in a whole new world that actually fear
15:31is growing exponentially day by day and
15:35no one knows this is this is the the
15:39power of terrorism
15:41in its complete random ability to make
15:45us feel very unsafe and that's why I
15:48just I have to come back to you can't
15:52use military against an ideology an
15:56ideology lives in the mind lives in
15:59people's hearts and we have to we have
16:02to look at how we are reacting and
16:05responding to the very very destructive
16:09ideology that that can be born and grow
16:13anywhere in the world it's not just the
16:17mental side of you thinking all of this
16:19stuff it's the physical side of you
16:21that's also unbelievable I mean you take
16:23on these physical challenges to support
16:25charities talk to our viewers about some
16:27other things you've done which are being
16:28on belief well last year was the 10th
16:32anniversary of the London bombings and
16:35and I talk a lot about these subjects
16:38it's a very complex topic but I just
16:43felt too to commemorate the 10th
16:46anniversary I didn't really want to say
16:49a single word
16:50I wanted my body to speak the volumes
16:54and so I decided that I would actually
16:56embark on 10 different challenges to
17:00commemorate each year since the bombings
17:02and to look at really pushing myself of
17:05what could I physically do that would
17:08put me in my sort of out of my comfort
17:11zone quite a bit and one of those things
17:14was abseiling down yet tall buildings
17:18and like it was absolutely terrifying
17:23I've got no idea how people do this for
17:26sport or for fun because the moment I
17:28landed on the ground I just kissed that
17:31concrete just so happy to be back down
17:34but I learned how to tap dance I I
17:38released a song on on iTunes I did
17:42everything that that would put me in it
17:45in a different category of this feels
17:47uncomfortable and I'm frightened but I'm
17:50gonna do it anyway okay and you're all
17:52you're all so modest because you didn't
17:54meant
17:54and fire walking swimming with sharks
17:56bungee jumping racecar driving stair
17:59climbing many more to come too many to
18:03list here but you can also sing
18:06you saw the sang a song about peace I
18:08want to tell you with Gary burrows that
18:10happens to be John Lennon's cousin we're
18:12gonna leave everybody with a clip from
18:14that can you just do a setup for us
18:16before we go it was a it was a song that
18:19was written so I'd met Gary in Australia
18:23and Gary said you know I've been
18:26listening to you talk about peace and
18:29I've written the song and I think it's
18:32something you need to sing and it was
18:35interesting because I used to sing prior
18:37to the bombings but I'd lost all my lung
18:40capacity I'd lost the ability to talk
18:43and I've lost a lot of my hearing so I I
18:47just thought I care singing is something
18:48that I'm never going to do again and
18:50I'll just move on and then Gary
18:53presented this song and I heard it and I
18:58said okay perhaps I'll give it a go so I
19:01went into the into the studio and I was
19:04absolutely overcome by emotion of being
19:09back in the studio of hearing the music
19:12and out it came so this was the first
19:16time I'd sung in ten years since the
19:20bombings and it was a very very
19:23emotional time let's listen
19:27[Music]
19:35yes
19:35[Music]
19:41help out mention to sexy
19:46[Music]
20:01[Music]
20:10[Music]
20:18can be let's see
20:24[Music]
20:35one bit of advice as I say goodbye spend
20:39more time in the studio less time with
20:40the Sharks it's probably a little bit
20:42easier thanks so much we'll be right
20:49back with this week's full frame
20:51[Music]
20:59you
21:00[Music]

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