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Deich air fhichead bliadhna as dèidh Piper Alpha tha teaghlaichean an fheadhainn a bha air an call, agus an fheadhainn a fhuair às lem beatha, fhathast air an glacadh le uabhas mu na thachair dhaibh. Thàinig athair Iona Ballantyne, Bob, dhachaigh an oidhche sin ach bha a’ bheatha aige air atharrachadh gu tur. Tha Iona a-nise airson a’ bhuaidh a bh’ aig Piper Alpha air na teaghlaichean, i fhèin nam measg, a thoirt gu aire dhaoine.

Bha na bliadhnaichean a thàinig as dèidh Piper cruaidh air an fheadhainn a fhuair às le am beatha. Bha gu leòr a thug bliadhnaichean a’ fulang – gun bruidhinn air na thachair dhaibh air an oidhche sin. San rannsachadh a chaidh a dhèanamh air buaidh Piper, le cuideachadh bho tòrr den fheadhainn a fhuair às beò, bha na lorg iad gam fàgail gu làidir dhen bheachd gun robh na bha iad fhèin agus cuideachd na teaghlaichean aca air a dhol troimhe aithnichte mar PTSD – post traumatic stress disorder.

Bha buaidh Piper ri fhaireachdainn fad is farsaing – le na fir a bha oirre bho air feadh na dùthcha. ’S e an aon rud a tha tarraing nan teaghlaichean sin ri chèile – oillt Piper.

Thirty years on, the scale and magnitude of the Piper Alpha disaster – the world’s worst offshore oil disaster – continues to shock. The adjustment for those families whose loved ones did survive was as great as those who were bereaved, with the physical and psychological changes in survivors now recognised as symptomatic of PTSD – post traumatic stress disorder.

A well-known spokesman for survivors and their families was the late Bob Ballantyne, whose own family life was fundamentally changed following the tragedy, as he devoted his remaining years to supporting the families of victims. A delayed response to grief was felt strongly by his daughter Iona years after his death through cancer. When watching footage of the burning oil rig, she finally felt the impact of her loss and understood the difficulties her father faced during his years living as a survivor.

To understand and process her own thoughts and loss she visits other families, who like her, were direct witnesses to the consequences of the disaster and the changes it forced upon them.