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A nurse recalls the 1998 bombing of an Alabama health clinic that performed abortions

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

It's Friday, which means it's time for StoryCorps. On a January morning in 1998, a terrorist detonated a bomb at the New Woman All Women Health Care Clinic in Birmingham, Alabama. A police officer working security, Robert "Sandy" Sanderson, became the first person killed in a bombing on a clinic that performs abortions in the U.S. A nurse, Emily Lyons, was severely injured. She spoke with her husband, Jeff.

EMILY LYONS: I didn't know about the risk when I got the job. When I went to work the first day, I was wondering why there was protesters standing out on the street screaming at me as I was driving in. It was a rude awakening for me. So as time went by, it wasn't just a job.

JEFF LYONS: How old was your youngest patient?

E LYONS: The youngest patient I ever had was 10 years old. As I was speaking with her, she didn't know how she was pregnant. Nobody had taught her anything. And I can remember the day a woman took my hand, and she just, you know, squeezed it and said thank you. That made you know that it was all worthwhile. But one day, I went to work pretty much like any other day, and a patient and her father pointed to something over in the yard and said, what is that? And Sandy, the police officer, took out his nightstick and started to go through to the bomb. Well, the terrorist was standing across the street. So he pushed the button and watched the destruction that he did to Sandy and myself.

L LYONS: The police officer, Sandy, was murdered. He saved the person that is most important to me, and yet, I never met him.

E LYONS: Sandy was very mild-mannered, courteous. He was not pro-choice, but he knew he had a job to do the days that he came to the clinic to provide security. It didn't matter to him. While you were there, he was there to protect us. And yes, indeed, on that day, his body did protect me.

L LYONS: When I walked into the hospital, I thought I was in the wrong room. I didn't recognize you. It was that bad. How many operations have you had so far?

E LYONS: As of this year, there have been 57. Every day that I get up, it's an effort to get out of bed. But scars just tell people that you were stronger than those who tried to hurt you. I don't know what happened during that bomb, but it sure flipped a switch in my brain because not much intimidates you once you've been blown up. You know, life knocks everybody down. But what matters is how you stand up, and we have stood up together.

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MARTIN: Emily Lyons, with her husband, Jeff, for StoryCorps in Birmingham, Alabama. You can hear more on the StoryCorps podcast. Their conversation is archived in the Library of Congress. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

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