Lorraine Kelly suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after covering the Lockerbie bombing for 'TV-am' back in 1988.
Lorraine Kelly suffered from PTSD after covering the Lockerbie bombing
The TV presenter was the Scottish correspondent for the breakfast show when a bomb exploded onboard Pan Am flight 103 above the town of Lockerbie killing all 259 people onboard as well as 11 residents of the town and she was sent to the scene to cover the aftermath - and Lorraine says the horrifying experience still haunts her to this day.
She told The Telegraph newspaper: "I was the Scottish correspondent of 'TV-am' and we were among the first reporters there. It was horrendous .. Eerie, really quiet, with lots of weird smells. But it is the aviation fuel that I remember most."
Lorraine went on to admit she still has nightmares about the crash site, saying: "Often times I am above it, like a drone, looking down. That is really awful."
The TV presenter recently returned to the town for the first time since covering the bombing as a 29-year-old reporter to film a new documentary called 'Return to Lockerbie' and Lorraine admits the project brought back long buried memories.
She added: "Isn’t it odd, how the mind plays tricks on you? ... There were certain things that happened to me that night that I only found out about while making this documentary ... "
Lorraine revealed she didn't get any professional help after the experience, but she explained talking to her dad about it was a huge help.
She explained: "No one took me to one side. It wasn’t because they were uncaring, it was because it was 1988. It wouldn’t have been something that I actively would have gone looking for.”
“But this is not about me. Nobody got the help they needed. Nobody talked about mental health. PTSD was something still not defined."
She explained she didn't want to admit to suffering from PTSD for a long time because she thought it was only for those who had lived through Lockerbie or for soldiers in war zones, but Lorraine can now say she was "very badly affected" by covering the disaster.
'Return To Lockerbie With Lorraine Kelly' airs on ITV1 at 9pm on November 15.
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