“The more I talk about that fateful day, the lighter my feelings become. I'm happy to know that my story can move those involved in terrorism to repent for their acts,” a survivor said.
osuwa Ramos was in the middle of his afternoon shift when a truckload of explosives blew up in front of his workplace, the Australian Embassy on Jl. HR Rasuna Said in Kuningan, Central Jakarta, on Sept. 9, 2004.
Josuwa, who worked as a security guard, his first ever job, at the building’s entrance, was standing only around 6 meters from the explosion.
He recalled that everything happened in the blink of an eye. In seconds, he realized that a metal plate had speared his left calf and another hard object had lodged in his knee on the same leg.
“Only three days after the incident, I had to pass that road again in an ambulance to reach a hospital in Kuningan where I underwent surgery,” he said on Sunday in a discussion held for 15th year commemoration of the horrific attack.
“I remember, I screamed so loudly when I passed the embassy building because I was traumatized,” the 35-year-old added.
It took him six months to finally be able to work again and a further 18 months to return to his job at the Australia Embassy building.
Today, after 15 years have passed, Josuwa said he still felt his body shiver whenever he passed the road.
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