Landmine victim and Irish pilot reunited

AN IRISH pilot was reunited yesterday with an American aid worker he rescued after a landmine incident in Somalia in 1993.

Ken Rutherford lost his right leg when the vehicle in which he was travelling struck a landmine in a remote part of Somalia.

Limerick man Joe Moran was working as a pilot for an African NGO and was airlifting supplies in Somalia when he received the emergency call to bring Mr Rutherford to hospital in Nairobi.

Fifteen years later, Mr Rutherford, who has since set up the Landmine Survivors' Network, came to Dublin to lobby on behalf of victims for the treaty designed to ban the use of cluster bombs.

Mr Moran's wife saw a photograph of Mr Rutherford in The Irish Times last week, prompting the retired pilot to get in touch and suggest a meeting.

Both men yesterday described the events which resulted in Mr Rutherford's survival, and agreed that if just one link in the chain had been different, he would not be alive today.

Mr Rutherford fell in and out of consciousness on the plane journey to the hospital, and yesterday each man told his side of the story and filled in the gaps.

"Joe's flying skills allowed me to stay alive," Mr Rutherford said yesterday, describing how the pilot flew low over the open plains in order to keep the patient's blood pressure low, and to lessen the amount of blood he was losing.

The plane did not have enough fuel to get to Nairobi, which proved to be fortunate, because during a refuelling stop they received blood donations and met a French doctor, who joined them.

They ran out of blood halfway through the final part of the journey to Nairobi, but the doctor and nurse on board both happened to have blood compatible with Mr Rutherford's and so were able to keep him alive, Mr Moran explained.

"I am lucky because I had the resources, but I am not unique in this happening and I doubt a plane would have flown in to rescue a Somali herder," said Mr Rutherford.

He was hopeful the treaty agreed last night would help people injured by cluster bombs in the future.

He described the document as "the strongest victim assistance in humanitarian law", and as historic.