7/7 Survivor Tells Matt: 'Anger Is What Keeps Me Going'

25 March 2017, 11:49 | Updated: 25 March 2017, 14:17

7/7 survivor Gill Hicks told Matt Frei "anger has to be there because I don't want another person to know what I know".

Founder of M.A.D. for Peace and 7/7 survivor Gill Hicks lost her legs in the London bombings and told Saturday monring  Matt Frei that it's OK to be angry.

She said that she uses her anger as a way to "get up in the morning" and make a difference. 

Gill told Matt: "It took me a very long time to come to terms with the idea that I will not recover. That this is permanent. That this is a new normal, if you like.

"I think to me what's definitely softened the harsh reality is that, firstly, I am alive, that I survived, that I am, for all intents and purposes, still the same Gill I was prior to the bombings. 

"Those things alone have been my shining moments, if you like, to hold onto dearly...i'm fortunate that I still have so much."

She went on: "However, that doesn't stop me from being increasingly angry of the senselessness of what I face every day, and the huge, dramatic impact it has on my day-to-day life, and indeed my unpredictable future."

Matt said: "So you say, increasingly angry, are you getting more angry about it?"

Gill replied: "Absolutely. But I've also had time to appreciate, that actually that's quite a good thing. 

"I used to be in design and architecture, I was a proud Londoner for 26 years, and I have come to realise actually it's OK to be angry. 

"Because if the anger is positively directed, then it's the very thing that keeps me getting up every single day and being completely devoted to 'what can I do to deter anyone from going down the path of extremism?'."

She added: "There's no measure of success for me...so how do you measure your effectiveness? You have to have that sense of 'what is my purpose in this? Why am I getting up every day?'. 

"That anger has to be there because I don't want another person to know what I know. End of. Full stop."