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Witness History

Saving lives after the 2002 Bali bombings

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.51.6K Ratings

🗓️ 16 August 2024

⏱️ 11 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Two bombs ripped through the Kuta area of the Indonesian island of Bali on 12 October 2002.

202 people were killed.

28 burns victims were taken to Royal Perth Hospital, Australia, where plastic surgeon Professor Fiona Wood worked.

She led a team working to save patients suffering between two and 92 percent body burns using ‘spray-on skin’.

Professor Wood speaks to Megan Jones.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Professor Fiona Wood. Credit: Fiona Wood Foundation)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

I'm Rory Stewart and I want to talk about ignorance. I will die without having read everything that was written in classical Latin.

0:11.6

Because ignorance isn't simply the opposite of

0:14.0

knowledge. It's part of what it means to be human. Just about every game I can

0:19.4

think of involves ignorance. There's no adventure without ignorance. There's no there's no narrative.

0:25.0

The long history of ignorance from Confucius to Kianon

0:29.0

with me Rory Stewart,

0:31.0

listen on BBC Sounds.

0:33.0

Hello, it's the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service with me Megan Jones. I'm taking you back to 2002 when a

0:46.8

groundbreaking treatment helps save lives after the barley bombings in

0:50.8

Indonesia.

0:52.8

It's the 13th of October, an Australian Burns expert

0:56.5

Professor Fiona Wood is at a friend's wedding,

0:59.3

but her phone keeps ringing.

1:02.2

We heard that there'd been a significant bombing very

1:05.8

very early Sunday morning as it happened around the midnight sort of time

1:10.3

Saturday to Sunday. One of our registrars and his wife had just left the Burns

1:15.8

team and gone to Bali for holiday and they were very much in the front line. It was around 11 PM.

1:26.0

We heard a massive explosion

1:28.0

proceeded by a very small one.

1:30.0

There was a small bang.

1:31.0

Very, very loud explosion and then just shattering glass everywhere.

1:34.8

Three bombs have exploded in barley, one in the capital of Dempassar, with no injuries and minimal damage.

...

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