A man who was shot while remonstrating with troops about the first fatality of Bloody Sunday said today he believed the soldier who fired at him had wanted to kill him.
Mr Michael Bridge also told the Saville Inquiry he was presenting no threat when wounded in the leg in the car park of the Rossville Flats.
Giving evidence in the Derry's Guildhall, he said he was shot after venturing towards British army paratroopers incensed and distressed after coming across the body of Mr Jack Duddy, who had been gunned down moments earlier.
He said: "As soon as I was hit the shot spun me around and I can recall that two boys ran out and dragged me back into the street.
"I firmly believe I would have been killed if they had not done so because my recollection was that there were bullets flying around.
"I can recall as they grabbed me, one of them said that I had been shot. It was then that I collapsed. I believe they saved my life. I honestly believe that if the soldier had his way, I would have been dead."
The Saville Inquiry is investigating the killing of 13 Catholic men at a Civil Rights march in Derry 29 years ago. A 14th man died later.
PA