Millions around the UK and billions around the world were left stunned by those two extraordinary days but few were more affected by the 48 hours than Martine Wright.

As Rogge announced that London had won the bid, Wright was jumping up and down and in her office, celebrating the news with colleagues.

The celebrations carried on into the night and the next morning, Wright took a slightly later train on the London Underground Circle Line as she headed into work. She sat down just three feet away from suicide bomber Shehzad Tanweer and seconds later, she was in the blast that killed so many innocent people.


Wright was one of the last to be freed from the train wreckage and was in a critical condition when she headed for hospital as one of the most severely injured survivors from the attacks.

She had to be revived five times on the operating table and lost 90 per cent of her blood but somehow managed to survive despite losing both of her legs.

Slowly, she learned how to walk again using prosthetic legs and began to use sport as a means of rehabilitation. As she became more competitive, she attended a try-out day for Paralympic sport at Stoke Mandeville in 2008 and was picked for the British women's sitting volleyball squad with the dream of competing at the London 2012 Paralympics.

It was only until recently that that dream was finally realised as she was named in the ParalympicsGB team at a special announcement at London's City Hall, just metres away from Tower Bridge.

It was at the announcement where Wright and I sat down together to talk and the courageous 39-year-old explained to me how ironic it was that the announcement should take place at City Hall.


"It is surreal when I think back to what happened on that day back in 2005," she said, as her eyes moved across the River Thames to a nondescript building less than 100 metres away.

"It is even more surreal because as I'm talking to you now, that building across the river was where I used to work and that was where I was going the morning I lost my legs. I've always said that there was a feeling that maybe I was always meant to do this journey. I know that sounds a bit cheesy and people probably just think I am being dramatic but there just seems to be too many coincidences in all this.

"For instance, the day before, it was announced that London had won the Olympic and Paralympic bid.

"We also train as a team in London opposite the hospital where I learned to walk on my prosthetic legs.

"Now the announcement of the ParalympicsGB sitting volleyball is here in central London.

"So there are just lots and lots of coincidences and it is really poignant being here at City Hall and looking over the river at that building where I used to work while I am being told that I am going to be at London 2012. It is just another part of that circle and that journey that I truly believe I was meant to do.

"It may be a strange thing to say but I feel so lucky, that I have had the opportunity to do this journey. I've always said I was really lucky that day itself. I was obviously unlucky to get on that exact tube but I was so lucky to survive. All these things can't just happen by chance so I truly believe I was meant to do this journey."

Seven years on, Wright still remembers vividly the moment that she saw a blinding white flash that was followed by black devastation. It is the question she is always asked in every interview but she says she simply hopes that people can take the positives from her remarkable tale of survival.


"Obviously things move over time and now this [she taps her prosthetic legs] all feels pretty normal. I wouldn't say my life is normal but this is me now - prosthetic legs and wheelchairs and things like that. I suppose people will see me and always relate me to what happened in London that day and I guess there isn't much you can do about that. But lots of people went through stuff that day, not least all those poor people who cruelly lost their loved ones.

"I suppose the only good thing is, if I can get a message out there to people. I want that message to be that good can come out of bad.

"Even though it was an awful day in the life of my family and I, more traumatic than you can ever think of, I survived and I had a choice to carry on living my life. That has brought up opportunities that I never ever thought I would have and I'm really enjoying every one of them.

"Now I am going to the Paralympics and I would never have thought that was possible back in 2005. Hopefully that might show people how good can come out of bad.

"In your darkest day, things can get better."

It has been a long road to actually be sure of her dream of competing at the Paralympics and Wright explains it far better than I can.

"It is an amazing feeling to finally be selected for the London 2012 Paralympics," she said with a smile.


"I've likened it to a two-and-a-half year job interview and finding out that I had made the team was like finding out that I had got the job. What that actually means is that I have to do the job now so the hard work continues and it will only get harder. But I feel absolutely elated to be here. I'm really proud to be able to turn round and say to my family that I am part of ParalympicsGB and that I am nearer to my dream of being part of the greatest show on earth in my home town of London."

Achieving a medal at the Paralympics appears a huge challenge for the ParalympicsGB team. The women's sitting volleyball side is less than three-years old and they will be huge underdogs against the likes of the United States, the Netherlands and defending Paralympic champions China.

But Wright said her team will not go down without a fight.

"We just have to work as hard as we can work," she said.

"We are the first ever women's British sitting volleyball team and we have two and a half years' experience but we are playing individuals and teams that have got around ten or 20 years' experience and they have obviously been doing the sport a lot longer.

"But we have a chance.

"When we first started, they were wiping the floor with us but now, we are getting better and better and we are actually competing with them. All we can do is give our best.


"But we are all looking forward to seeing the Paralympics in London and to showing what we can do. We want to show what the Paralympics is all about and show that we are all elite athletes like the Olympians. We are all elite athletes, not just people having fun and giving it a go. So we are looking forward to being part of that and to changing perceptions of disability sport. We have a big responsibility and we have to keep going."

As for her own role, Wright knows that she will be the one in the headlines and the one being requested for all the interviews.

It was the same at the announcement at City Hall, where the one athlete everyone wanted to speak to was her.

Wright (pictured below third left) has even featured in a special photo shoot for the British Airways High Life magazine. 


But she again smiles at the prospect of having the microphones shoved in her face during the Paralympic Games.

"In team sport, we all have different jobs," she said.

"Part of my job might be speaking to the media and so be it. Another part of my job is tea-maker and that is very important on the team! But we all have different jobs.

"The captain has the captain's job, the vice-captain has the vice-captain's job and I suppose speaking to the media is part of my job. But I'm quite happy to do it as long as it doesn't interfere with what I am here to do, which is to be a part of the ParalympicsGB team. That is my first job and everything must work around that."

Tom Degun is a reporter for insideworldparasport