David Perry, the taxi driver caught up in the Liverpool Women's Hospital terror attack, joined Good Morning Britain to discuss the event one year on.
On Remembrance Sunday, 2021, David picked up Emad Al-Swealmeen from his flat on Rutland Avenue, near Sefton Park, to take him to the hospital. Moments later, as he pulled up at the hospital entrance, Al-Swealmeen inexplicably triggered his homemade explosive that contained 1,000 ball bearings.
David was pulled out of the car with injuries including a fractured back, shrapnel wounds and multiple burns. Discussing the event with Ranvir Singh and Ben Shephard, he admitted he can barely remember the journey to the hospital.
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He said: "I can remember the blast and I remember getting blown up. I remember thinking 'Why has a waggon driven into the back me?' and then I was out but the actual drive and into the hospital I've got no recollection or memory of at all."
David said though his scars have healed he will always be "stuck in that situation." He added: "It's the smells. It's looking in the mirror and seeing the scar on your head. It's the smell of plastic. It just reminds me of the actual car burning and him being all over me I was burning. So it's a strange thing."
Ranvir asked whether or not David had "a feeling" that something was not right, calling on a "sixth sense" he has grown as a taxi driver. He said: "When he got in, everything was wrong about it. He sank behind the seats, I couldn't see him. All he said was 'Women's Hospital' and when I tried to make conversation there was no response.
"I said 'Do you have a wife or a baby' and there was just no response. So usually when a customer doesn't talk back or be responsive, something's wrong." David said he was more concerned about the possibilities that would have come if the attacker was able to enter the hospital, stating it would be hard to live with if mothers or children were hurt.
David relied on humour to get him through the experience as he recalled joking with officers almost immediately after the incident. He said: "The police said to me 'Did he say anything to you' and I said 'Yeah, slow down or you'll blow us up."
Ben Shephard commended the positive outlook on the Scouse way of life before David agreed "it's the only way to get through it."
David discharged himself from the hospital earlier than necessary, citing others needed it more than him and the NHS was struggling enough without him needing an extra bed. He said, as long as his mind and head were okay, he was happy to retire his spot for someone else that required emergency services.
Drawing the interview to a close, Ben solemnly asked, "How do you feel about the bomber?" David replied "He's another person who was sick himself. He's not in my memory and I can't remember his name half of the time."
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