The London Bombing Hits Close to Home for PLNU

Twenty-nine people were injured in a bombing of the Parsons Green tube station in London on Sept. 15, according to police reports. Nineteen PLNU students are currently abroad in London, several of whom were in the city at the time of the attack.

Sophomore applied health major Emy Giddings was on her way to a tube station with sophomore Drey Avizenis when she was blocked by police who had roped off the area.

The two had planned to arrive earlier, but they were delayed due to Giddings applying makeup.

“I wasn’t very surprised when I heard about it, but it didn’t scare me either. It’s far more dangerous to enter a car and that’s something we do every day,” Giddings said.

Junior psychology major Katelyn Fulps was visiting Croatia during the free weekend when she heard about the bombing through friends and family asking if she was okay.

“I couldn’t believe that something that seemed so distant to me when I was in America was happening so close to where I was now living,” said Fulps, who is one of the two RA’s for the London Abroad Program. “Some of our London group was on the exact tube line by that station the night before the attack. It was so close to where we were living and it really made me nervous to come back to London.”

According to Fulps, the only student contacted after the attack by the leaders of the program was the one left in charge back in London. Otherwise, no students received word from either the leaders or the PLNU Office of Global Studies.

Jake Moody, a sophomore graphic design major, said that the group had a meeting once everyone was back at Lee Abbey, where the group was told that “whatever happens, God’s got us.” The group has also been avoiding the tube stations at high traffic times.

ISIS has since taken credit for the bombing on their social media site Amaq where they also claimed to have several other bombs planted throughout the city, The Independent reported.

The police have said that the bomb did not fully detonate, or the attack would have likely been fatal. Reports say that an 18-year-old male has been charged with the attack and two other men remain in custody in connection with the bombing.

The attack came shortly before the class left for a 10-day trip throughout the UK.

“I don’t know what the right precautions to take are after something like this,” said Fulps. “But the ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ is hard to do when you are thousands of miles away from the comfort of your own home and your own town.”