Peadar Heffron: Injured PSNI officer says he wouldn't join police

A former PSNI officer injured by a dissident republican bomb 14 years ago has said knowing what he knows now, he would not have joined the police.

Peadar Heffron said he never imagined he would need to use a wheelchair in his lifetime.

He recalled the attack at an event marking the 20th European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Terrorism.

Mr Heffron's leg was amputated and he suffered other serious injuries after a bomb exploded under his car.

The incident occurred in Randalstown, County Antrim, in 2010.

Speaking at the event at Stormont, Mr Heffron said: "It's a different world but its not the end of the world."

But he told reporters afterwards: "If I was my 26-year-old self, knowing what I know now, would I join the the police? I wouldn't. My answer is no."

"It comes back to communities - it's not within the police's grasp to change enough, it's people within communities that have to move a bit."

He also said politicians at Stormont could do with "pulling their finger out".

Mr Heffron added that he held no bitterness about what happened to him.

"I obviously have to live with the consequences, but I just get on with it, I can't change it."

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly was among politicians who attended the service, where a minute of silence was also held for all victims of terrorism.

Mr Heffron said his wife, who is also a police officer, would have been travelling in the car except he knew he was going to be kept late at work.

The undercar bomb exploded about half a mile after he set off.

"There was a loud bang. I looked down and my legs were still there although there was flames coming from between my legs," he said.

"The immediate reaction was to try to climb out of the car but I couldn't do that because my legs weren't working.

"So I pulled myself out of the car using my arms and lay down on the road and put my hands in my pocket and phoned my wife."

When his wife told him in the ambulance that he had been the victim of an under car booby trap he said: "I wasn't best pleased, trying to get out of the straps and calling people all sorts."

Mr Heffron, a Catholic who played a lot of Gaelic sport as well as rugby, revealed he had been transferred to west Belfast from Ballymena after receiving a threat from dissident republicans.

He said he was told by fellow officers "that's what you have to accept when you put a uniform on".

After the attack his right leg was amputated at the knee and he knew he was never going to be able to sit up unaided again.

"I tell people ultimately I was able to walk 100m. Usain Bolt can do that in less than 10 seconds. It took me seven and a half minutes.

"The sweat was lashing off me so at that stage I realised it was never going to be a functional option."

He now plays wheelchair basketball and hurling.

"People maybe haven't heard of wheelchair hurling, and how I describe it is: 'What's not to like about beating somebody in a wheelchair with a big stick?'" he said to laughter from those at the event in Stormont's Senate Chamber.

He now lives with his wife and their three dogs.

"I never realised that in my lifetime I'd end up in a wheelchair. It's a different world but its not the end of the world," he added.

The event, organised by the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF) which supports victims and survivors of republican and loyalist terrorism, was sponsored by TUV leader Jim Allister.