Scot caught in Kenya mall massacre speaks out

A heroic Scot, left for dead by terrorists in the Nairobi mall massacre, has spoken for the first time about his ordeal and how it’s brought him closer to his wife.

Simon Belcher, who grew up in Perthshire, was labelled a hero after shielding a four-year-old boy under a car in September’s terror attack in the Westgate shopping centre, which left 72 dead.

The father-of-two, who runs a safari guide business in Kenya, was shot twice in the back and suffered life-threatening injuries while his horrified wife, Amanda, watched from underneath another car.

Speaking from the Kenyan coast where he is recovering with his family, the 49-year-old said: “I still have a wound in my chest where the bullet exited but apart from that my body has healed.

“The physical stuff is fine. It’s the mental stuff that gets you in the dark of the night.

“In a funny way it’s brought my wife and I closer together.

“It sounds terrible and something you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy, let alone your family but because we both experienced that horrific day we know exactly what each other is going through and can pick each other up in the bad times.

“We’ve shared this and ultimately came out the other side alive.”

Simon had returned from guiding a safari tour in the Kenyan bush days before the September 21 attack.

He and his wife were going to the cinema in the ill-fated shopping centre when members of the Al-Shabaab terror group struck.

Simon said: “We parked on the rooftop at about 12.15pm and made our way in.

“As we did we heard gunfire and people began streaming out of the mall.

“At first we thought it was a robbery gone wrong but when we heard grenades going off we knew it was terrorists and probably Al-Shabaab.”

The Somalian terror group have made a number of attacks on neighbouring Kenya in recent years but this was to be their most daring.

Simon added: “Our intention was to make our way on foot down the car park ramp that led out of the building but, as we did, we could see two terrorists coming up shouting and shooting.

“We then ran over to the opposite end of the car park where a cookery class had been taking place earlier.

“All the adults and kids who had been there were scattered about hiding.

“We got under two cars parked next to each other.

“The terrorist pair began shouting how Kenyans had killed Somalian women and children and they were here to kill all Christians and Kenyans in revenge. Only Muslims would be spared.

“Some people said they were Muslims and they were let go.

“Then the terrorists started shooting the rest.

“It wasn’t like in the movies where the baddies indiscriminately spray round after round of bullets.

“This was very deliberate targeting. You’d hear a shot and then a few seconds later perhaps another two being fired.

“From my position I could see people’s legs as they ran away. I’d hear a shot and then they’d topple over on the ground dead.

“It was very strange things going fast and slow at the same time.”

The couple stayed frozen to their position under the cars as the murderous duo went on the rampage on the rooftop. Adults and children were indiscriminately gunned down.

After 10 minutes of carnage the terrorist pair lobbed a grenade towards hostages near Simon and his wife.

Simon was hit in the leg by shrapnel.

“I didn’t scream for fear of giving away our position, and was surprisingly calm.

“I thought ‘it’s not hit my head or heart’ so I’ll survive and worry about it later,” he added.

It was in the ensuing panic after the grenade attack that Simon saw a young boy fleeing with a woman.

“My wife and I started mouthing to them to get under the car with us, which they did. I don’t know what would have happened to them otherwise.

“I protected the boy under the car but soon afterwards I was spotted.”

Unfortunately, as one of the terrorists bent over to pick up ammunition he had dropped, he spotted Simon hiding.

“It was lucky it was just me he saw but, as he stood up, he must have signalled to his accomplice who fired into the car shooting me twice in the back, with one bullet also going through my arm as well.

“They either must have thought I was dead or it was too much hassle to bend down to make sure because they left me alone after that.

“I guessed the bullets hadn’t gone through my lungs or spine so it wasn’t going to kill me immediately.”

For the next two and a half agonising hours Simon, his wife, the four-year-old boy and others who had joined them, cowered as the terrorists returned intermittently to wreak havoc.

Simon adds: “It was very eerie.

“You could hear all the normal sounds of shopping malls the whirl of ventilation units, the background music from restaurants and then gunfire.

“Eventually, private security forces the real heroes managed to secure the rooftop and start getting people out.

“The first wave of rescues were for people who could walk.

“My wife refused to leave me and we were rescued 15 minutes later when they managed to get an ambulance up the ramp.

“We were taken to the nearest hospital where I was operated on.

“As I was being assessed I struck up a conversation with a Kenyan doctor about his love of Scotland.

“It turned out he had studied in Aberdeen.

“Later the doctors told me I was only 10 minutes from death and had suffered near fatal blood loss and internal injuries.

“But the adrenaline coursing through my body meant I had no idea what was going on and how close to death I was.”

After 10 days in hospital, Simon was discharged and, alongside wife Amanda, is taking part in intensive counselling sessions to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder from their ordeal.

Simon added: “My wife and I feel safer in the bush among the crocodiles and lions than in a shopping centre with humans now it’s going to take us a while to recover.

“But I want my story to be positive we are here and lucky to be alive.

“In some ways it’s been harder for Amanda because although she’s not had the physical wounds she’s had the mental ones, which are harder.

“My children, who are both at boarding school in South Africa, took it badly.

“My son Seb, 18, was very angry about it all and my daughter Phoebe, 17, has had some terrible nightmares.

“But these terrorists’ ultimate aim is to divide us along religious grounds. We can’t let that happen.

“The little boy who was so strong throughout the whole thing got away safely in the first wave of rescues, but I’ve been unable to track him down since.

“It would be great to see him again to tell him how brave he was.

“Stories like him surviving are the ones to take from this experience not the tales of murder.”