Two Knoxville sisters among the injured in London bombing

Two Knoxville sisters among the injured in London bombing

July 7, 2005

KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- Two sisters from the Karns area vacationing in London were among the people injured in Thursday's terrorist bombings.

Dudley Benton told 6 News his daughters, Kathleen and Emily, were on a subway near Paddington Station when an explosion occurred.

Emily has had surgery for broken bones and missing skin on her feet. They are both recovering in the same hospital.

The girls' mother, Patty Benton, has headed to London to be with them.

Kathleen, 21, is a student at UT and Emily, 20, attends Pellissippi State.

"I was shocked to find out it was someone I knew," said Heather Waliga, one of Katie's classmates at Karns High School. Katie and Heather were in the same honors English classes together and developed a good friendship.

"Katie was really friendly, really outgoing, just willing to be friends with everyone," Heather said. "She was real intelligent, just a great person all around."

Heather says she and other former classmates are pulling for Katie and her sister's recovery.

Katie and Emily's pastor, Rick Dunn of Fellowship Church, found out they were injured after reading an email sent to another pastor.

Pastor Dunn says the women will be okay. "They are great, wonderful girls. We have such a respect and appreciation for them and I'm sure they were doing something that was fun and adventurous and having a great time."

Emily Benton works at Parkside Tavern. Co-workers say she and her sister just wanted a break from everything.

"I think they were choosing one of the spots that the Olympics were held at, and they were hoping it wasn't New York because of the former terrorist attacks," said Karen Rickett. "It's just a stroke of bad luck and a horrible situation for them."

Local man's cousin, friend killed in bombings

When Knoxville resident Doug Parlour, a British citizen, first heard the news of the bombing he couldn't locate a cousin, two uncles, and a number of friends in the London area.

"It destroyed me," Parlour said. "Then we're on the phone constantly, on cell phones. We went and bought phone cards. Nothing got us through."

Word came Thursday afternoon from London that his uncles were okay, his cousin was still missing, and a friend was killed in the second blast at King's Cross Station.

Parlour says in times like this, 3,000 miles may as well be a million miles. "It's a waiting game. And when you're stuck here, waiting to here about family, that's the hardest thing possible."

Parlour later heard his cousin, Donna, was one of seven confirmed victims of the third explosion at Edgeware Road.

News also came about another friend who was in the hospital after getting hit by shrapnel from the last explosion that ripped through a double-decker bus.

"9/11 is close. This is the 9/11 of London," he said.

Parlour says after going through 20 years of IRA bombings, Londoners will eventually make it through. "We bounce back, but this has just destroyed London."

Woman hasn't heard from her mother

Another Knoxville resident, Debbie Cherry, is worried about her 85-year-old mother, who is in London right now.

Cherry's mother, who is from England, goes to London for several months each year and also lives in San Diego. Cherry hasn't heard from her since the bombings and doesn't know how to get in touch with her.

Cherry says she knows her mother must be going through a hard time. "She's very brave. I bet she's devastated right now. That's her country. That's where she's from."

Local tour group in England, but not in harm's way

Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church has a group of 21 people travelling in England on a high school missions trip. The group was outside of London when the attacks happened.

A member of the group called to report that they're all safe.

UT students safe

Two University of Tennessee two students studying abroad in London have been accounted for.

UT also has a group of students leaving this weekend for a summer study program in the UK. UT's Web site says the trip is not cancelled, but university officials will continue to monitor the situation.

6 News reporters Tim Miller and Amelia Graham contributed to this report.