Source: Liverpool_Echo
Liverpool man who was dubbed Hero of Heysel recalls the tragedy
The hero of Heysel recalls the tragedy[LNB]Chief Reporter Luke Traynor speaks to the Liverpool man dubbed the Hero of Heysel.[LNB]And, 25 years on, he discovers how the tragedy left him a changed man.[LNB]THE young Italian girl was slowly dying as a frantic John Welsh stared into her blackened eyes.[LNB]Lying heartbreakingly on top of her already dead father a slight murmur came from Carla Gonelli's lips.[LNB]The man from Dingle quickly leapt into action, grabbing the helpless 18-year-old and hauling her out of the Heysel chaos.[LNB]Because of him 18-year-old Carla Gonelli survived the terraces of Zone Z and lived to tell the tale.[LNB]John's heroic actions were captured on TV and his face beamed onto screens across the world - the instantly recognisable yellow-shirted Liverpool fan who pulled seven Italians out of the crushes.[LNB]Touchingly, the barman met Carla in the weeks which followed.[LNB]And after an emotional reunion they began a special friendship.[LNB]Even today John's voice cracks with emotion when he recalls the mayhem he was caught up in a quarter of a century ago.[LNB]At home in Liverpool the 52-year-old told the ECHO how the disaster haunts him every day - not just on anniversaries.[LNB]The bus driver said: 'I went with six mates over on the boat to France and then through to Belgium.[LNB]'We arrived on the day of the final and I remember having a laugh with the Juve fans in the town centre, going to different bars, singing songs.[LNB]'Everything seemed fine.[LNB]'As we got to the ground I saw Liverpool lads being taken out on stretchers with stab wounds in their legs.[LNB]'Coppers just had their hands in the air. They were letting supporters go wherever they wanted to go.[LNB]'As we walked in people were saying 'Be careful when you go in'.[LNB]'We had tickets for Section Z, the neutral zone where a lot of Italian fans were. That was where the chaos happened.[LNB]'We went to get a match programme and as we were walking on to the terrace I heard a 'bang' - the crack of a wall collapsing.[LNB]'Almost as I walked in the wall came down. Bricks basically fell on me leaving my arm all cut.[LNB]'I jumped back and escaped on to the pitch.[LNB]'Me and my uncle Richard just started trying to help people. There was a picture of a fella lying on a wall. I did get to him. But I couldn't help him as he was too heavy.[LNB]'People were just falling on top of each other shouting to get back.[LNB]'These two Italian fellas have since told me I threw my arms into the pile of bodies and pulled them out.[LNB]'I met them later at Turin cathedral in the summer of '85.[LNB]'They wanted answers from me - why it happened, where they were....but I just had no idea.[LNB]'I was around the chaos for several minutes. There were people dragging hold of my legs.'[LNB]Possibly the most heartbreaking, yet uplifting memory recalled by John is that of Carla, from Pisa, who was on the verge of suffocating when he found her.[LNB]The south Liverpool man hauled her out of the carnage as she murmured slightly, lying prostrate on top of her dead father Giancarlo, a school caretaker, aged 41.
