Two of my great passions are people and painting.
In this series, I get to enjoy both.
I meet extraordinary Australians, explore their stories...
I'm putting my hand up and saying I want to do something.
I want to be part of the solution.
See, I'm now crying now talking about crying.
What's happened to me?
..and paint their portraits.
It's theirs to keep, so I hope they like it.
(GASPS) Oh! (LAUGHS)
Wow! (GASPS)
Oh, my God! Holy mackerel!
That looks me! It's beautiful.
Mate, that's incredible.
Gorgeous. That is absolutely amazing.
Welcome to Anh's Brush With Fame.
Gill Hicks is a survivor.
After living and working abroad for over a decade,
Gill found herself in 2005
on her way to work on a train in Central London
when four bombs went off...
We need to clear now Russell Square.
..destroying many innocent lives.
How did she find the strength to hold on that day
and to forge a new life?
I want to find out.
I'm hoping that Anh captures...
..the life within me.
I think that's the greatest thing
that perhaps can come out through a painting.
I'm not entirely sure what he'll focus on.
I imagine that he'll probably hone in on... on eyes.
But who knows.
Filled with anticipation.
Gill is a dynamic, clever and funny woman -
a reminder of what the human spirit is capable of.
She's got a big personality and the most striking blue eyes.
My challenge is to capture her spirit in those blue eyes.
Hello, Gill. Hello!
Mwah!
Thank you so much for coming on.
Thank you for having me. Beautiful to meet you.
Can I help you onto this? Please do, yep.
Ooh! OK.
Yep.
That's about as elegant as it gets.
(BOTH LAUGH)
Wonderful. Wonderful.
Look at this little walking stick.
Is that a foot? It's a spare foot.
(LAUGHS)
It's beautiful.
You've painted the toenails red. Yes.
(LAUGHS)
So it's a little, uh... It's a little nod to my old self.
But beautifully handcrafted in South Australian wood,
so yeah, it's lovely.
Gorgeous. It's a beautiful thing. Yeah.
You were born in South Australia. I was. Born by the beach.
Youngest of two kids. Mm-hm.
Your father, Don, what did he do for a living?
He was a sort of a colourful character.
(BOTH LAUGH)
He travelled around Australia as an actor.
He did many things.
Dad left the family when you were about 16.
Yeah. And you grew very close to your mum.
Yeah. Mum and I were different characters.
I often describe my memory of Mum
as this very quiet, gentle, beautiful woman,
and as a youngster, of course, that grated with me
because I was your... a typical teenager.
I was angry.
I, you know, wanted action and, um...
..and Mum would always very quietly just say,
"Never speak ill of anyone. Never ever look at retribution.
"Everything comes around
"and people who are angry have their reasons for being that."
And at the time, that advice drove me insane, because I wanted action.
As life has progressed,
I've found that those words have actually been
one of the centrepieces of how I live my life.
So for all the qualities
that I was so angry about as a youngster,
I now am just so privileged that they are now part of who I am.
And you were only in your early 20s when you lost Mum.
Yeah. I was with Mum when she died.
So Mum died a year after Dad.
To be with her as she died,
literally holding her hand and seeing that hand just drop
and seeing life as I knew her go
was such a... such a catalyst, in fact, for me.
And I looked at her body and I just thought, "What's all this about?
"What else do I do now? How do I find out who I am?
"How do I find out what I'm made of?"
So that really was the beginnings for me
of taking a plunge, getting on a plane
and just deciding, "I'm going to go to London.
"I just need to see who I am, what I'm made of
"and what I can take on."
What kind of work did you find in London?
I saw this big building
and I just thought I'm going to go to that building
and see what that building is
because that's where I'm going to work.
And it turned out it was one of the largest publishing groups
in Europe.
I walked in and I just said, "Look, I can do anything you want me to do.
"I'm absolutely brilliant. Hire me."
And they looked at me and went, "No."
(LAUGHS) And I said, "OK."
I said, "What if I come every day for free for three months
"and I guarantee you, at the end of three months
"you will wonder what you did without me."
And that's what happened.
Yep. That's how my career started. Wow!
That's a lot of gumption for a 20-something-year-old girl
to go... Yeah.
.. "You need me." (LAUGHS)
I didn't know what else to do! Wow!
Gill's spirit and determination was rewarded
as she worked her way to the top.
Gill was publishing director
of the architecture and design magazine Blueprint
and became head curator at the Design Council in the UK.
Take me back to that day in 2005.
I was never late for work, Anh.
I was completely focussed and dedicated.
So I was always in my office at 7:30 every morning,
except this one Thursday morning.
And I missed my usual train.
Then I looked in my bag - I didn't have my regular train pass
so I had to wait in line to get another ticket.
All these little increments of time.
And now I look back at how infuriating that is.
That had it been a normal day, I would never been there.
Yep.
When this tube finally came, it was a packed platform
and I felt adamant that I'm going to get on this carriage right now
and sort of fought my way through and got on,
and to think that there was only one person that stood between me
and the bomber...
..is extraordinary.
How sad that I can't remember the face, essentially,
of the man that saved my life.
That passenger shielded Gill from the brunt of the blast.
The bomb was detonated about halfway between King's Cross station
and Russell Square.
It was part of a coordinated terrorist attack.
52 people died in 4 blasts across London.
26 of them were in Gill's carriage.
It took one hour for rescuers to reach them.
I remember immediately thinking...
..I must be dead.
I must have had a heart attack -
because we don't know what death is, do we?
And I just thought, like, everything has gone black.
Did you hear an explosion? No. Nothing.
Just... (GASPS)
..nothing.
Was there any pain? No pain at all.
Nothing.
I thought this was my private death.
And...
..the strange comfort...
..when I heard other people screaming,
because I thought, "I'm not alone.
"I'm not dead because there are other people here,
"and whatever's happened we're in this together."
Tell me about the two voices that you heard.
Death appeared to me...
..as a voice and it was female
and it was beautifully softly spoken.
And it just said, "You've lost both your legs.
"You don't want to live like that.
"Come with me.
"Come with me." And it felt...
..the most embracing, most beautiful.
And I've often thought, "Was that Mum?"
But it didn't feel like... It was a completely different experience.
And as I was contemplating this.. This beauty,
the voice of life, the opposing voice entered my field.
And it was male and it was angry and it just said,
"There is so much that you need to do.
"Legs or no legs, it's got nothing to do with your physical ability,
"but it's your choice."
And I was completely floored by this idea that I got to choose.
Yeah.
I felt completely intimidated to say, "Um, no thanks, Life.
"I think I'll go with Death."
I just thought, "Oh, I'll upset Life too much.
"I don't want to be yelled at."
But there was a curiosity of,
"OK, I know how beautiful death is going to be,
"but I'm so curious to know what... what is it I'm going to do?
"What does this mean?" Wow.
Because I had no idea.
As far as I knew, I was a workaholic
that beautifully, wonderfully worked in the arts.
You know, found my dream position.
What was it that life had in store for me?
And I just thought, "I want to stay."
It was as if something just washed over me.
A complete calm.
And so much so that I've met other survivors now
who said they remember looking at me
and they could see that I'd lost both my legs
and there I was tourniqueting up the tops
and, you know, holding myself like this and talking to others
and they were looking at me thinking,
"Well, if that person can be that calm, then, OK, we'll be calm too."
Wow.
Automatic sense of survival kicked in.
The man standing next to you...
..did he die instantly?
I'd met his wife.
We hugged and she said to me,
"If the last thing that he's done is to save you,
"I know he'll be so pleased that he's done something
"and you've gone on to make a difference."
The thought that a stranger right next to you
can save your life is quite a... It's very interesting.
It's informed a lot of...
..what I urge...
..and try and message now,
that wherever we are, the person next to us actually is our lifeline.
And if only we could treat each other like that.
Yeah.
Without looking at each other with suspicion first,
but with the absolute intent of,
"Whatever happens that I will save you and you will save me."
And that's what you saw with the others in the carriage.
Instinctively.
It was an immediate reaction to reach out and to help everybody,
to talk to everyone, to feel that we were together.
Absolutely together.
Because we would literally go around the carriage
and we would just clock in, if you like.
And during this roll call, were there voices that stopped?
Yeah.
Wow.
There were 26 people that lost their life around me.
And... in the book of condolence...
..on the first year, I just wrote...
.."I will do my best to live 26 lives
"and make the difference of 26 lives."
Sorry.
It's OK.
I got a box of tissues.
(LAUGHS)
Sorry. I'm gonna need some myself, Gill.
Oh.
(SIRENS WAIL)
Gill lost 75 percent of her blood
and before she made it to hospital, she was revived three times.
The paramedic who had me in his ambulance,
his name was Brian,
and he tells me the story that en route to the hospital,
he was checking for a pulse - nothing.
All his equipment, um, nothing.
Flatline.
And so he was frantically doing CPR.
And I had a tube down my throat, but I was talking.
And he said... (LAUGHS)
Apparently he was yelling to the driver...
.."Dead but talking! Dead but talking!"
He said, "I've never had to do that before.
"and I probably will never do that again."
After he met me, he said, "Of course, Gill. You never shut up.
"Why would you let being dead, you know,
"stop you from saying anything?"
So not shutting up... saved your life. Exactly. Saved my life.
Gill's got a lot of spirit and charisma
and it feels like she's always backed herself
and come through with the goods.
She's so engaging and vibrant.
I want to capture that spark.
What state was your body in, other than your legs?
When I was able to... to be conscious enough in hospital...
..I looked at the arm bracelet that was given to me
And it said four words - one unknown estimated female.
They were guessing that you were a woman
because your hair was...
Everything. Everything was burnt.
I had severe injuries.
I remember someone saying to me
that they had to pull a set of keys out of my head.
So I still had this hole in the back of my head.
I was an absolute mess.
And again, to think that no-one ever gave up trying to save my life.
Gill drew on her optimism, positivity and sense of humour
throughout her recovery,
especially when it came to getting her prosthetics.
The prosthetics has given you extra height.
A lot, Anh. A lot.
So, I used to be...
..under five foot.
And when the prosthetist and the consultant came to... to measure me,
I remember grabbing his hand and looking him straight in the eyes
and I just said, "Darling, um...
"I thought we could find some positives
"from this terrible situation,
"and I thought actually I could be a lot taller
"than what I used to be."
And he explained that actually they start double amputees shorter
so that we get the centre of gravity and learn how to walk.
And I managed to convince him to say, "Look, whatever I learn
"will be my first.
"So I might as well learn it whilst being six foot."
So we compromised.
I walked out of hospital five foot eight.
So I was... I was absolutely thrilled. (LAUGHS)
Sensational.
And I never told anyone, actually, how terribly scary it was
but, you know, sort of teetering on...
I just thought, "Doesn't matter. Fabulously tall.
"Nothing to see here."
Oh, wow, Gill.
You know, I love that you find so much humour.
I really love that.
Well, there's a lot to celebrate in life.
You know, I either look at this with a terrible morbid cloak
or I look at this as absolutely with the respect and dignity
that it deserves.
I'd rather live with a joyous air and an honour to my life
without saying that I am feeling morose about my life,
because how fortunate I am to have this gift back.
Yes.
Talk to me about the first time you looked into the mirror
after the incident.
That was hard.
Mainly because of just how sad my eyes looked.
That that's what got me first. My eyes looked sad.
And just... yeah, the strangeness of who I was now.
Did you also feel anger during that time
towards the young man who was on the train?
I didn't know what had happened
and I was told that I was in a deliberate attack,
that it was a bomb,
and I was just... I couldn't comprehend.
How... how could that happen?
Eventually this person's picture - the four of them -
was in the newspaper,
and I was expecting to see this monster in this picture.
And I saw...
..a kid.
And I just thought, "Huh?"
I felt nothing but absolute pity
that this person had chosen to take this course of action.
And, you know, why?
Why? He's dead.
He has no message at all.
The message he's left is just destruction and death and carnage.
And it was that moment on, really,
that I looked at that picture and I looked at that picture
and I thought, "This is what I need to do with my life.
"I need to talk to all of those people that are feeling like he did
"and I need to be part of the message of,
"'If you've got something you want to change,
"'this isn't the way to change it.'"
But I didn't understand the journey I'd be on at that stage.
I had no idea.
Gill was compelled to enact change.
In 2007, she founded the Making A Difference For Peace organisation.
She is an advocate for understanding differences.
To be dedicated to a position of peace
is one of the most committed, challenging things
we can ever choose to do,
and something we have to strive for continuously in life.
Why is peace hard?
In many instances, the sense of retaliation,
the sense of justice, the sense of revenge can be so strong.
And what I've really tried to explore
is how do we make something right
by not perpetrating another wrong ourselves?
Almost coming back to the words of my mother.
That, you know, people's actions and words
are coming from their place of anger.
And you don't know what's happened to them.
Do you have any idea...
..about Germaine Lindsay's motivations?
So I'll say... I'll say no,
because that individual is dead so I can only then presume -
which I hate doing -
that Germaine Lindsay wanted power and purpose,
so he chose this course of action.
All cloaked neatly around a religious idea.
And if only he was alive today
to see that actually that course of action...
..furthered nothing.
I now work with former extremists
and we have a great understanding of the root causes
of what brings people to a place
that they feel that taking their own life
and creating acts of mass murder
are actually going to further an idea of position and power.
And I think, collectively, as a society,
we are the people that can turn this around,
but we have to work together as a very strong, very united society.
Yes.
I think you're amazing. (LAUGHS)
In 2009, you meet a man called Karl and you guys are together...
..and one day, you find yourself pregnant.
(LAUGHS)
What was that like, to hold Amelie in your arms?
Surreal, Anh.
It was just... how could this...
How could my body have just created this other life?
For all the people that rescued me,
it was not only now have they saved one life,
they've now helped create another life.
We can now see people in the world that otherwise wouldn't be here,
if it weren't for their actions.
Unconditional love from Mum
was what I felt I really missed in my life,
because that...
Mums are everything, you know?
And I guess also the anchor that Mum represented.
So, an unconditional love that was the anchor.
Then when I was rescued...
..what I felt from every single person in all of the chaos,
someone was always holding my hand.
That to me felt like unconditional human love.
Again, when I held Amelie...
..unbelievable.
My goodness. She's now four.
She's a very spirited little girl.
After everything you've been through, Gill, what's life about?
Building a legacy.
Because if you build your legacy, then you never die.
(LAUGHS) Yep.
Footprints really have affected me.
Yes.
And it affected me when I first came back to Australia.
I stood on the ground
and I realised I would never feel...
..the soil again.
So I started to think a lot about... what does a footprint mean?
What does that mean?
And how can I create something that's a different impression?
And so I then understood that actually...
..actually, our legacy is everything.
You know, it's what helps us continue.
Oh, gosh.
What an incredible person you are, Gill.
I have been so wrapped up in your story,
I'm gonna need a little bit extra time to finish this off.
(LAUGHS)
It's been amazing.
So, take a break.
I'm going to just work on this and I'll bring you back
and I'll show you the Gill Hicks...
I really just want to get your spirit in there, you know?
You're just an amazing person. Thank you, Anh.
(LAUGHS)
I hope he sees the beauty in the tragic situation.
So I hope that that's what comes through,
that there is still a beauty born out of tragedy.
Absolutely excited. Yeah.
Can't wait to see what he's done
and how he's interpreted our very deep conversation.
Gill is just one very special human being.
To go through the London bombing
and come out literally missing a piece of yourself
and react not with anger or bitterness
but with a desire to reach out and connect.
It's hard to capture all of Gill's spirit in one portrait,
but I've given it my best shot.
Let's bring her in.
Right, Gill. I'm all done.
Come on back. (LAUGHS)
I'll get you to stand right here. OK.
That was such an honour for me.
You have the most amazing eyes, by the way.
When you opened your eyes in the hospital
and you looked at yourself in the mirror and you saw the sadness -
so what I wanted in this portrait was for the eyes to have...
..to be full of life and full of optimism.
So that's what I've gone for.
So I'll get you to close your eyes. Close my eyes? OK, OK.
OK? Yep.
Don't open them till I tell you.
OK, Gill. Go for it.
I'm scared to. (LAUGHS)
(GASPS)
Oh, Anh! (CHUCKLES)
Wow!
Thank you. Thank you.
Wow!
Wow.
The eyes. The eyes. Yeah.
Wow. Thank you.
A pleasure.
Something for Amelie to have. Yes.
All her life. Yes.
(BOTH LAUGH)
Wow. Mum will always be watching. (LAUGHS)
Wow. Thank you.
You're an extraordinary human being, Gill.
As are you. As are you.
A great pleasure to be in your company.
Thank you so much, Gill. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
(LAUGHS) Thank you.
Wow. Just amazing.
I think he's captured something that is exactly what I was hoping,
which is life.
It's all there in the eyes.
Just incredible. Amazing.
To be here
and to have this as part of one of the many things in my second life
is really a great honour and a great privilege.
It was such a privilege to have Gill share her story with me.
What an amazing, courageous woman.
Next time, an AFL legend
who's experienced incredible highs and lows.
The microphone had fallen at my feet and I was happy to pick it up.
Adam Goodes shares his compelling story,
and I get to paint the portrait of a champion.
Wow!
Mate, that's incredible.
Captions by Red Bee Media