A NORTH-EAST survivor of the London bombings has spoken for the first time about how she is rebuilding her life.
Almost a year after the terrorist attack on the capital, Lisa French has said that she owes it to the victims of the blast to keep going.
Ms French was on the top deck of the number 30 bus, which was ripped apart by a suicide bomber in Tavistock Square.
The 31-year-old was only feet away from the blast that killed 13 people on the bus on July 7 last year.
She managed to walk away with comparatively minor injuries - but the terrible memories of that day will stay with her forever.
A total of 52 people died in the attacks, which included three bombs on underground trains.
Speaking from her home in Longbenton, North Tyneside, a defiant Ms French said: "The thought of those 52 people keeps me going and makes sure I will keep going.
"They may have injured me and they may have killed and hurt people, but my life is what I've got left.
"I'm not going to stop living because otherwise they will have won."
Ms French will be hard of hearing for the rest of her life as a result of the blast.
She has also had to undergo months of dental work on her teeth, which shattered in the explosion, and is on medication to ease the severe headaches she has suffered.
Now she is planning to return to London with her husband, Russ Goodwin, to mark the first anniversary of the attack. She said: "It will be really, really emotional and it will be hard - but it is something I have to do.
"I feel like I owe my life to those 52 people. If it hadn't been for one of them, it could have been me."
Ms French has remained friends with some of the other survivors of the blast, and she previously laid flowers at Tavistock Square as her personal tribute to the July 7 victims.
She says she is still angry at the acts of the terrorists, who she describes as "evil cowards", adding: "I am angry for the people they have hurt and the families they have ruined.
"My thoughts go out to those families who have lost someone every day."
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