Bali bomb survivor home

A FERMANAGH man who is lucky to be alive after surviving the Bali bomb outrage is back home recovering from his injuries.

Jason Dooris had been in the Sari Club on the Indonesian holiday island when the bombs exploded.

Jason had the joint of his left knee severed and shrapnel was embedded in is skull. His hearing has been affected and he sustained injuries to different parts of his body.

"It is good to have family and friends around at a time like this," he said on his long-awaited return home.

Sadly, his oldest friend Mike Standring was killed and Jason is hoping to be well enough to attend his funeral in England on November 29.

Jason - a dive master - and Mike were associates for more than 20 years. Jason had been working in advertising in London when he and his wife Marisa decided to spend some travelling.

They shared a house with Mike in Australia for a time and later met up with him in Bali.

Mike was due to leave the day after the bombing and the three had gone out for a farewell dinner together.

Afterwards, Marisa called into an internet cafe and Mike and Jason went to the nightclub for a last drink. They had only been there about 10 minutes when the bombs went off.

Jason said he had been standing almost shoulder to shoulder with Mike.

When the blasts went off, the roof came down and separated them and that was the last Jason saw of his friend.

The injured Jason climbed up through the roof and onto a side street where he collapsed.

Another couple took him to an emergency hospital and afterwards he spent a few weeks in hospital in Singapore, where he was stabilised after getting an infection in his knee.

He then returned to Enniskillen where he spent some time in the Erne Hospital before going home to recuperate.

His leg is healing and he is walking with the aid of crutches.