My husband of just five weeks was killed along with nine friends in Bali 2002 bombings – I was the only one to survive
A WOMAN who lost her new husband and nine friends in the 2002 Bali bombings has opened up about her “agony” at being the only survivor.
Polly Brooks was on the popular holiday island celebrating her honeymoon when a blast tore through the Sari Club.
Two other bombs were detonated at Paddy’s Bar in Kuta and outside the US consulate killing 202 people in total.
Polly’s husband Dan Miller, 31, who she had married just five weeks earlier, and her best friend Annika, 30, were among 23 Brits who died in the horror.
The mum has now spoken of her torment ahead of the release of a new ITVX drama series Bali 2002.
Polly, who is played by Bridgerton’s Claudia Jessie in the show, says she did not really suffer from “survivor’s guilt” but more “just felt it was really unfair”.
She added: “I felt angry that I had been left and I felt angry that I was the only one who had to cope with it all.
“The others were gone and in some ways it felt like they had the easier option.
“One minute you’re there, the next minute you’re gone and you don’t know anything about it whereas I was left in agony in hospital – finding out one by one that all my friends, my husband and my
best friend had died.
“Then it was about trying to deal with the grief and the healing as well as the impact across all of their families and their friends.”
Surrey-born Polly met husband Dan in Bali while on a girl’s holiday then aged 27.
The pair, who both lived in Hong Kong, married two years later with Annika – her best friend since the age of eight – as her bridesmaid.
Polly and Dan first travelled to the Maldives and Sri Lanka for a honeymoon before meeting Dan’s rugby pals in Bali.
On October 12, 2002, the group went for dinner before making their way to the Sari Club at around 11pm.
Minutes later, a terrorist detonated a bomb at Paddy’s Bar opposite the club, followed by a second explosion in the street outside.
A fireball from that blast ripped through the nightclub leaving hundreds of partygoers dead or seriously injured.
Polly was somehow able to escape the burning building after clambering on the roof despite being on fire.
A bystander wrapped her in a blanket to extinguish the flames but they became trapped with dozens of others in a cul-de-sac for hours as emergency crews battled to make it through the wreckage.
Polly still had no idea where her husband or best friend was but managed to call her mum to let her know she was alive.
She was eventually rescued after a nightmare three hour wait and rushed to hospital with her skin “hanging off” and clothes fused to her body.
Polly had to undergo 11 life-saving operations and was left with burns to 43 per cent of her body.
She said: “There’s the initial terror of what happened, then you go into survival mode.
“The period of time that is very difficult is when you are coming out of the shock, where it’s ‘I’ve got to get well enough to get back to England. I’ve got to get well enough to live independently. I’ve got
to get back to work’.
“You have all those things that you fight towards. My crisis came when I’d achieved all of that, then it was ‘What next?’”
Polly was forced to miss Annika’s funeral as she spent nine weeks in hospital recovering.
She flew back to the UK three days before her husband was laid to rest on December 21, 2002.
Speaking about her memories of the attack, which are used in the show, Polly said: “I hadn’t allowed myself to really think about Dan because it was just too painful.
“I was like ‘Keep moving forward, keep moving forward’ but to ever find peace again you have to address what you’ve been through. So that part brought back some very deep, dark, horrible memories.”
The bombings were later found to have been carried out by Islamic terror group Jemaah Islamiyah.
More than 30 people were eventually arrested for their involvement in the attacks including three who were sentenced to death.
Of the 202 killed, 23 were Brits and 88 Australian – the single largest loss of Australian life due to an act of terror.
In the 21 years since the bombings, Polly has been awarded an MBE and raised millions for burns survivors.
She also set up a charity, Dan’s Fund for Burns, which offers practical support to burns survivors.
Sadly, Dan’s death was not the only tragedy to hit Polly after her second husband passed away two years ago.
Speaking about the devastating blow, she said: “It was like ‘Jesus, why is it always me that has to be the strong one, who has to hold it
together and somehow rebuild everything?’
“That said, my 50th birthday is approaching. I wasn’t going to celebrate it but my sister said: ‘My God, you have to celebrate it because you’re still here.
“It’s a miracle that you are and life is wonderful.’
“It took me a couple of years to get my head round the fact that actually it was a good thing that I was still around and there are still lots of amazing things that can happen in life.”
- You can watch Bali 2002, exclusively on ITVX, Thursday 16th March