SIR: I would like to comment on your leader (BEN, November 2), regarding police claiming compensation for psychological damage due to attending the Hillsborough football disaster. Did we not have a similar thing in Bolton years ago? What claims did the police make at that time?
I did think the young men of today would be a tough bunch of people after being brought up on a diet of TV and cinema horror movies.
We are not supposed to look back, but there are a few facts that I would like to mention.
Relating to my generation there were horrors that were witnessed daily when our towns and cities were bombed. The horrific scenes of spilt blood and guts our young men saw in the army, air force and at sea.
I would like to mention that my brother was an army officer and had spent three years fighting in the jungles of Malaysia and Burma. He was killed by a mortar bomb as the war was coming to a close. He has a grave so someone picked up his remains and buried them and probably this job had to be done daily. Was there ever a thought of: "I will be able to claim compensation on this job?".
Could it be that ambulance personnel, nurses, doctors and the general public will be able to make claims for compensation, after witnessing distressing scenes in the future?
E Kay
Harden Drive, Bolton
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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