It’s been all over the news but This Writer can’t let the quick thinking of taxi driver David Perry go unremarked here.
Mr Perry picked up 32-year-old Emad Al Swealmeen from an address in Rutland Avenue, Liverpool, shortly before 11am on Remembrance Sunday (November 14).
The passenger asked to be delivered to Liverpool Women’s Hospital, about 10 minutes’ drive away.
But it seems Mr Perry realised the man had brought what appeared to be a home-made bomb into the cab, so he locked the doors as the device was triggered.
It was after the explosion happened that the driver escaped from the vehicle.
🚨 | WATCH: Shocking moment David Perry’s taxi explodes, and he escapes leaving bomber to die
— Politics For All (@PoliticsForAlI) November 15, 2021
He’s lucky to be alive – but more importantly, it seems he prevented what could have been a terrorist atrocity.
The UK’s terror threat level has been raised to “severe” – the second most serious level – because of the attack, and the murder of MP Sir David Amess a few weeks ago.
And three men, aged 21, 26 and 29, have been arrested under the Terrorism Act.
Mr Perry was treated in hospital and has since been discharged.
His wife Rachel has posted a message of thanks on the social media to everybody who has expressed concern about her husband’s well-being:
Message from the wife of the taxi driver who miraculously survived the explosion at Liverpool Women's Hospital yesterday.
Why on earth would corporate media hacks doorstep a family in such circumstances? pic.twitter.com/QcG8hxKNtC
— Another Angry Voice (@Angry_Voice) November 15, 2021
In fairness to the reporters who went on the knock at her address: I’ve had to do this after people have died, and it isn’t pleasant. Editors demand it because they think a comment from the family will sell their papers.
But they probably got what they deserved; I always hated doing that job, always apologised for imposing on people who I was sure wanted to be alone – and this consideration often led to an (exclusive) interview – ahead of the pushy types demanding a paragraph before their deadline.
Nowadays, the simple fact is that people involved in events like this are likely to tell us all about it on the social media – so why go around upsetting them?
Instead, This Site can simply agree with the sentiments expressed by the writer of the London Underground service information board, above. Do you?
Source: Who is taxi driver David Perry and what do we know about the Liverpool hospital explosion? | indy100
