INJURED Liverpool photographer Paul Conroy said he believed he was just 15 minutes from death after his leg was blasted apart in a bomb attack in Syria.
Paul, 47, from Anfield, is about to undergo a series of operations in London after returning to the UK yesterday.
The married dad-of-three was trapped in the city of Homs for five days following last week’s blast which killed his Sunday Times colleague Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik.
He told the ECHO: “When the blast happened I felt a huge pressure on my left leg. I put my hand down – and straight through my leg. In one side and out the other. I immediately knew I would need a tourniquet to stop the flow of blood. I put one on and then another and from that point thought if I could get to someone with medical knowledge I could pull through.
“I was confident I could stop the blood and knew I had 15 minutes – I was 15 minutes away from death. But, thankfully I got the help I needed.”
Paul, who last year provided a series of three special reports for the ECHO documenting the uprising in Libya, paid special tribute to Marie Colvin.
Picture taken by Paul in Libya
He said: “It is such a huge loss. We have lost one of the bravest, most tenacious and most honest reporters the world has seen in decades. She inspired me every moment I was lucky and privileged enough to be in her company.”
He also praised the sacrifice of those who died while trying to help him and his fellow journalists escape Homs. Paul was smuggled into Lebanon by the Syrian opposition and Free Syria Army fighters.
During the rescue operation, three rebels were reportedly killed by shelling while 10 were killed trying to bring in aid.
It was another three days before French journalists Edith Bouvier and William Daniels and Spanish journalist Javier Espinosa, who were also part of the previous mission, could get out of Homs.
Paul said: “I’ve never been shown so much love. A commander lined up 100 men and they all swore an oath that they would die before we died. We all understood the risks and I can offer no more than my eternal thanks to everyone who helped us.
“I’d also like to pay tribute to every person in Syria who is currently opposing the regime. Their bravery is unparalleled.”
Despite his injuries, Paul remains focused on the Middle East.
He said: “My message to the international community is ‘Stop the slaughter in Syria’. The slaughter will now continue in the district of Baba Amr without the cameras being able to show it to the world and this will happen across Syria. The Syrian government has crushed the heart of the revolt.
“I got a message to David Cameron to let him know this is not going away – it’s just not going to be filmed. The Syrian government is intent on bloodshed and the systematic elimination of not just activists and protestors but ordinary men, women and children.”
The Prime Minister later accused Syrian president Bashar Assad’s “criminal” regime of “butchering its own people” and warned his supporters to turn their backs on the president or face a “day of reckoning” for their part in the “truly terrible” scenes.
As for his own immediate future, Paul said: “I need a few more weeks of medical treatment. I’ve been brought to a private London Hospital and I’m about to have an operation – and I think there will be quite a lot of operations in the next few weeks.”
His dad, Les, who lives in Knotty Ash, last week told the ECHO the family would have to “nail down” Paul to stop him going out to places like Syria.
Paul said: “Of course, it’s a natural family thing to say. I’ll just say negotiations will be taking place at the United Nations over that one – but I’m making no promises!
“But I feel my priority now is to highlight what’s going on in Syria. I have an obligation to Marie’s memory. We went out to get the message back about what is happening in Syria.
”The focus has been put on journalists, but we want to turn it back onto the people because Marie would be turning in her grave if that didn’t happen.”
