Dunblane victim’s horror at Pakistan massacre

A survivor of the Dunblane massacre is sending a message of support to the victims of the mass school shooting in Pakistan.

Classroom assistant Mary Blake, who was shot and seriously injured by killer Thomas Hamilton, is posting a note of hope and consolation to grief-stricken families in Peshawar.

A total of 16 children were murdered along with their teacher at Dunblane Primary in March 1996.

Still traumatised, Mary said this week’s slaughter of 132 innocent schoolchildren by Taliban militants brought the horror of Dunblane flooding back.

She said: “I can understand so well what these families are going through at this moment and I just want to support them. We will be sending a card as we do in all terrible mass shootings like this. I know how hard it is to cope afterwards.

“What happened at Dunblane all came back to me as I watched the awful pictures of the massacre and my heart goes out to the families of those children and staff.”

The mum-of-three was shot in her head and both legs by Hamilton, 43, an ex-Scout leader who turned the gun on himself after killing Mary’s teacher colleague Gwen Mayor, 45, and 16 children.

In cold weather, she still suffers from sharp pains in the wounds she received in the shooting.

However, the mental scars of what she experienced have been particularly hard to bear.

She quit her classroom role as she never “felt right” after the massacre and believes the survivors in Pakistan will now be hit with the same battles she faced.

She added: “Life has to go on and we have no choice but to go forward and cope. These families in Pakistan will be coping too, for years to come.”

Tuesday’s horror incident shocked the world. Pakistani authorities revealed the youngest victim was five-year-old Khola Altaf, shot dead on her second day at Peshawar Army Public School.

The sickening attack was ordered by Taliban leader Maulana Fazlullah who previously demanded the death of the teenage education campaigner Malala Yousafzai, 17.

Much of the carnage took place in the auditorium which is the main hall of the school in Peshawar.

“You can never fathom the mind of people who want to turn a gun on innocent schoolchildren,” Mary, 70, said. “I am so very upset that this continues to happen.

“The children would have been so excited running to their classes and what has happened to them is awful.”