A HELSBY mum unable to work because of injuries sustained in the IRA Warrington bombing, has been stripped of her incapacity benefit – 20 years after the tragedy.

Liz Edwards, of Parkfield Drive, was shopping in Warrington town centre with her then-fiancé Gordon on March 20, 1993 when the two were caught in the horrific blast which killed young boys Tim Parry and Johnathan Ball.

Liz, then a 21-year-old waitress, suffered severe injuries to her right leg and left arm, while Gordon, who had been standing just inches away from 12-year-old Tim, incurred serious leg injuries and internal bleeding caused by being hit in the stomach by shrapnel.

The pair spent six months in hospital before marrying in Helsby in March 1994, and now have a 15-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son.

But two decades after that fateful day, which Warrington residents marked with a minute’s silence yesterday, Liz, a former dinner lady, is still unable to stand unaided for long periods, has problems driving, suffers anxiety and depression, and has been declared unfit for work by a doctor.

And although she has received counselling for her frequent nightmares and flashbacks, Liz has now been told the £216-a-fortnight Employment Support Allowance that she previously received for the swelling of her injured leg, has been stopped by the Department of Work and Pensions.

She plans to attend a tribunal next month to challenge the order, but first will face the obstacle of making her first trip back to Warrington since 1993.

Liz hopes to visit the town this week to pay her respects, but still gets anxious at the thought of returning.

“We used to love shopping in Warrington and going for a potter about,” she said.

“On the day of the bombing, me and Gordon were in Boots looking for Mother’s Day gifts and I was just standing at the till about to hand over my money when we heard the first blast.

“Everyone just stopped in their tracks and looked at each other, we didn’t know what it was.

“As we stepped out of Boots that’s when the second blast went off and me and Gordon were just blown apart in opposite directions,” she recalled.

“I remember a big flash and screaming for my mum but I felt no pain, just a strange sensation I can only describe as someone slicing a hot knife through butter – it just all seemed to happen so smoothly.

“I was just lying on the floor feeling numb – I didn’t feel pain until I was being cut out of my clothes at hospital later.”

Liz and Gordon endured several months of surgery including physiotherapy and skin grafts, before they tied the knot on March 26 the following year.

“I swore to myself I’d walk down the aisle without my crutches and it was an emotional day,” said Liz.

“But attacks like 9/11 and the 7/7 bombings really brought it back, and especially when the London one happened, I remember feeling shaky and like my head was going to explode.

“But thankfully I’ve had the support of good friends and family and my children to focus on.”