Blasts ‘bring it all back’

By Rebecca Fraser
A HALLAM man badly burnt in the 2002 Bali bombing said he was shattered when he heard about the latest terrorist attacks on the Indonesian island.
Dale Atkin, 30, received burns to 45 per cent of his body following the blasts and this week he expressed condolences to Australia’s latest victims and their families.
Four Australians were killed and numerous others injured when bombs exploded in restaurants in Kuta Beach and Jimbaran Bay last Saturday.
Mr Atkin said his mind had now “drifted back” to Bali.
“I still think about Bali a lot and my injuries are now as (healed) as they will ever get,” he said.
“It is a pretty terrible thing and it has really brought it all back to me.
“I got a message from a friend just after it came through on the news and I just could not believe it had happened again.”
Mr Atkin said the last time he went back to Bali was six months after the 2002 attacks to be a part of a story for Channel Nine’s 60 Minutes program.
He said he now feared that the latest bombings would continue to cripple Bali’s tourism industry and have a horrible effect on the Balinese people.
“No one will want to go back there now that this has happened again,” he said.
Mr Atkin said that he sympathised with what families and victims were going through.
“I just want to send my condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones and those who have been injured,” he said.
“I just want people to know that they will eventually get there and get through it.
“You may feel that you will never get through it and that it will never end but it does get better.
“With the support of your family and friends you do get there.
“You just have to fight through it.”