Just 10years in memory One of the youngest survivors of the July 7 attacks gave a heart-wrenching speech today at a memorial service commemorating the tenth anniversary of the tragedy, saying: 'It may not have broken London, but it did break some of us.
Emma Craig was just 14 in 2005, and on her way to her work experience placement at a legal firm in Tower Hill when she was caught up in the blast at Aldgate, the first of the four suicide attacks which k!lled 52 people and injured hundreds more.
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Today, at a poignant service in Hyde Park, Miss Craig, now 24, told the crowd her story, which had such an impact on Prince William that he embraced her with a warm hug after hearing her speak at the event for survivors of the atrocity and the families of the de'ad.
All of us lost our innocence on that day, our naivety, the thought that "something like that could never happen to me" or even to London,' she said, adding that she had 'struggled a lot afterwards' because she was scared of being 'weak'.
She said she was just ten days away from celebrating her 15th birthday when the bomb went off, and did not fully understand what was happening.
She recalled her mother ringing her to check she was okay as she had heard about a bomb going off, and she remembered saying to her parent: 'Mum I was there. I was on the Tube.'
Miss Craig, who was not injured in the blast, continued: 'Quite often, people will say "it didn't break us, terrorism won't break us".
'The fact is it may not have broken London, but it did break some of us. Sometimes I feel that people are so hell bent on saying terrorism not breaking us that they forget about all the people who got caught up in it.'
Afterwards, Ms Craig, from Friern Barnet in north London,said she did not really talk about her experience for about six years.
'I've never really spoken publicly about it,' she said.
Miss Craig, who works in marketing, said she thought it was 'important' to speak at the service.
'There were some things I wanted to say not just to survivors but to the bereaved families as well,' she said, adding that there were things she wanted to say that people had 'never said before'.
She said some survivors have post traumatic stress disorder and struggle to put put into words what their emotions are.
Ms Craig said her mother was 'terrified', and recalled how she did not have any cash for a taxi so her work colleagues all 'threw money at her'.
She said one of her most poignant memories of that day was how everyone came out of restaurants and office buildings to see what they could do to help.
'They all came together irrespective of what their background was,' she said.
Prince William joined the families of the dea'd for the Hyde Park service, the second of two taking place today, laying flowers at the site of the permanent memorial to the victims, and staying behind after the service to speak to those present.
He was accompanied by Gerald Oppenheim, former chairman of the London Bombing Relief Charitable Fund, which was set up in the aftermath of the tragedy to help families and survivors after members of the public rushed to do whatever they could to honour the victims. The fund, set up by set up by the Red Cross and Ken Livingstone, who was Mayor of London at the time, handed out £12million in grants in the year after the blasts.
Some 400 people had been invited to the service, which took place alongside the memorial, while hundreds more watched from behind barriers, eager to pay their own tributes to those k!lled.
Those present listened to a performance from Rock Choir who sang True Colours and Something Inside So Strong, while flowers were laid at the spot visited earlier this morning by Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson, who visited the park this morning, placing wreaths at the memorial at 8.50am - the time of the first blasts.
Former firefighter Paul Dadge also spoke at the service. He said he had been struck by an 'overwhelming guilt that there was not more I could have done'.
Survivor Tim Coulson read the names of the 52 victims, and Esther Hyman, whose sister Miriam Hyman, 31, died in the Tavistock Square blast, also addressed the crowd.
Survivor Sudhesh Dahad, who was on the train which was running between King's Cross and Russell Square when the third bomb went off, also made an emotional speech.
He told the crowd the tragic events of ten years ago still have an impact on him today.
But he said he tried to be the 'archetypal stoic' at the time, adding: 'We all felt a responsibility to get on with our lives in defiance of the terrorists.'
Tracy Russell, from the London Ambulance Service, recalled the events of July 7 2005, remembering her walk through the Tube tunnel at Russell Square and the 'smoke catching in our throats, adrenaline pumping through our veins'.
She said: 'This is a day that I never wish to know again.
The list of the dea;d were also read out, and as Rock Choir performed, families of the victims as well as survivors were invited to lay a single yellow gerbera at the memorial, as a symbol of hope.
Earlier today, Britain had fallen silent to remember the July 7 attacks with a one minute's service being observed across the country at 11.30am.
And across London, commuters and grieving families left poignant floral tributes close to where each of the four bombs exploded, near Aldgate, Edgware Road and Kings Cross stations, and at Tavistock Square, where the fourth bomb was detonated on board a bus.
The anniversary comes amid a number of warnings about the enduring and changing threat from terrorism worldwide, and just a fortnight after the Tunisian beach massacre in which 30 British holidaymakers were shot dea'd.
The Hyde Park service came after a more formal one at St Paul's Cathedral, which coincided with a national minute's silence to remember the 2005 attack - the worst terrorist atrocity on British soil.
Tube trains and buses stopped as a minute's silence was observed across the country, while tennis was delayed at Wimbledon.
Giving an address at the St Paul's service - attended by dignitaries including Mr Cameron, Mr Johnson, Tony Blair and the Duke of York - the Bishop of London Richard Chartres said: 'Soon after 7/7 the families and friends of the victims compiled a book of tributes.
'It is a taste of the ocean of pain surrounding the loss of each one of the victims.The tribute book is also very revealing about the character of the London which the bombers attacked.
'The majority of the victims were young. They came from all over the UK and all over the world.'
Survivors, relatives of the de'ad and members of the emergency services were all invited to the poignant event, in which prayers were led by priests who helped minister people in the hours and days after the blasts.
Candles representing the site of each incident were carried by people who helped deal with the immediate aftermath, including George Psaradakis, who was driving the number 30 bus when the fourth bomb was detonated on board at Tavistock Square, and Dr Peter Holden, who provided urgent treatment at the scene.
Dr David Ison, dean of St Paul's Cathedral, began the service by telling the congregation: 'We come together to share our grief and to comfort one another; to find strength and to foster resilience; and to affirm that even in our darkest hour the light of faith and the flame of hope burn strong.'
Mr Johnson then gave a reading from the New Testament, which said: 'Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
'And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus Christ.'
The St Paul's service also heard four reflections of the blast sites.
David Boyce, who was one of the first London Underground staff to realise a bomb had exploded near Russell Square, described how the area is home to the British Museum, the University of London, and is also a place where T S Eliot worked.
He said: 'Here, men and women seek understanding and their search for truth challenges the ignorance which casts so much darkness over our world.'
Paramedic Craig Cassidy, who attended the bombing at Aldgate, explained that it is 'a busy crossroads of business and commerce with people of all faiths, and none, trading and dealing with the rest of the world'.
London Fire Brigade commissioner Ron Dobson described the service as 'wonderful' and 'a really fitting tribute'.
He said: 'It's entirely appropriate that London takes a moment of reflection to think about those that were injured and k!lled on that terrible day, because London has moved on.
'London is an incredibly vibrant and resilient city. London carries on with its business as it always should. But it is appropriate to have a moment of reflection.'
British Transport Police Chief Constable Paul Crowther, who was in charge of London Underground policing on July 7, said: 'The service was incredibly moving and an absolutely fitting tribute to the victims of the attack, also the survivors and the very many people who responded to help those in need.'
He added: 'We should never forget 52 people perished in this terrible attack.'
Earlier, services were held across London at the exact time when the city came under attack ten years ago.
Mr Cameron and Mr Johnson led the commemorations this morning when they laid wreaths at the Hyde Park memorial at an event timed to coincide with the first blasts at 8.50am.
Both men stood, silently, as they carefully placed the flowers at the site, Mr Johnson carrying a yellow and white version, while Mr Cameron's was pink
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