Two young women, sisters and college students from Tennessee, underwent reconstructive surgery on Monday at Duke University Hospital after surviving last week’s horrific subway bombings in London.
Dr. Gregory Georgiade, professor of surgery at Duke, commended the ladies for their strength but was candid about the situation.
“When somebody blows you up, it’s not a real good day. They’re coping with it. They will need some support relative to that,” he said “These young ladies are very strong individuals. They do have a lot of faith and a lot of family support.”
The sisters, only a year apart in age, are rarely separated and were vacationing in London. They had been on the train only two minutes when a bomb exploded just ten feet from them. Fortunately for the young ladies, however unlucky for others, the sisters were shielded by train seats and a crowd of people.
“They described the sensation of feeling like they were on fire,” Georgiade said. “Fortunately, they were not.”
The girls were given emergency treatment at St. Mary’s Hospital in London and were transferred later to Charing Cross Hospital. Emily, a 20-year-old interior design student at Pellissippi State Technical College in Knoxville, suffered bone and soft tissue damage to her right foot and hand.
Katie, a 21-year-old veterinary science student at the University of Tennessee who also suffered soft tissue damage to her right foot and ankle and hand. Both girls had an eardrum blown out and superficial corneal damage.
Doctors recommended they undergo reconstructive surgery to close to wounds on their feet and gave them a four to five day window before the risk of infection set in.
Their mother, Patty Benton, rushed to London upon hearing the news and waited bedside her daughters as they were examined, questioned by Scotland Yard. Their return to the United States was delayed only a little as they awaited replacements for the passports that were destroyed in the blast.
