A WOMAN who lost both her legs in the July 7 London bombings is celebrating the end of a 250-mile walk aimed at uniting communities.
Gill Hicks, 38, began her journey in Leeds 30 days ago and, along with a team of walkers, visited 22 towns and cities – including Dewsbury – on her way to London.
The Walktalk project encouraged people from different faiths and community groups to engage with each other.
The journey, which took in community centres, mosques, synagogues and churches, saw the team joined by a diverse range of people, including Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair and former 110 metres hurdles world record holder Colin Jackson.
At an emotional arrival cele-bration in London’s Trafalgar Square today Mrs Hicks said: “All of us stepped into this journey with great faith and great belief that humanity would carry us through from town to town and that’s exactly what happened.”
After the bombings Mrs Hicks was taken to hospital, where an armband on her wrist read ‘One, unknown’.
And Mrs Hicks said the journey was also a step into the unknown.
She said: “Often building peace and taking that first step is difficult.
“For me to walk from Leeds to London is probably the single most difficult thing I could ever have imagined.
“I still can’t quite believe I have achieved it, but I never gave up because of the people that never gave up on me.”
She paid special tribute to the London Ambulance Service, who helped save her life when she barely registered a pulse after the King’s Cross bombing.
The service provided support during the walk with a back-up vehicle.
Tracy Russell, an LAS emergency medical technician, was involved in Mrs Hicks’ rescue three years ago.
She took part, along with other volunteers, in parts of the walk and was at Trafalgar Square to welcome Mrs Hicks, from Islington, north London, home.
She said it was an “extremely engrossing and uplifting experience”, adding: “It’s extremely emotional and I just can’t find the words to express how I feel,” she said.
“I feel so proud of what she has achieved.”
Mrs Hicks’ husband, Joe Kerr, a teacher, 48, joined his wife on every step of the journey.
He said: “The golden rule of Walktalk is no politics, no banners, no protests.
“We’ve come on a small journey in the scale of things, but a large journey for us, of hope, of optimism, of reconciliation.
“The journey to build a better and fairer and more equitable society is a journey we must all continue on relentlessly and continue on together.
“We can build a society based on mutual respect, that respects difference but recognises our common humanity.”
