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War orphan who survived bullet reunited with life-saving daily journalists

An African child who survived a bullet wound to the head after a regional daily’s readers raised more than £60,000 to save her has been reunited with journalists from the newspaper 20 years on.

In 1996, the Eastern Daily Press successfully campaigned to bring war orphan Tenneh Cole, then five-years-old, from Sierra Leone to Norfolk for life-saving surgery after a bullet lodged in her skull.

Two decades on, James Ruddy, who was serving as the EDP’s deputy editor at the time and was involved in the campaign to bring her to the UK, was reunited with her.

The EDP splashed on the reunion in yesterday’s edition, pictured below.

EDP reunion

James, now an editorial consultant, wrote: “Today, the tiny waif, whose huge brown eyes stole hearts across the world, is a tall and dignified young woman.

“When we met for the first time in the capital Freetown, she ran towards me and gave me a huge hug. It was a moment of high emotion among so many as I met the a young woman who truly is a walking miracle.

“As the graceful young woman in the long green dress began unfurling the length of blue cloth, she paused to show me a jagged bullet hole through its centre. This was Tenneh revealing to me the headscarf she was wearing as an innocent four-year-old on that awful day when her whole world fell apart.

“We were meeting for the first time since that shattering period of her life, which pitched her on to front pages and television screens across the globe.”

Tenneh sustained her injury while playing in her village when rebel fighters in Sierra Leone’s civil war attacked with assault rifles and machetes.

After living with the bullet in her head for one year, an X-ray revealed the full extent of what had happened to her.

The EDP was contacted by British charity Hope and Homes for Children, and James was among those to travel to West Africa to pick her up and , during her recovery, Tenneh had stayed with James and his family in Norfolk.

On his reunion, James concluded: “As I hugged Tenneh and her aunt in their tiny home and turned to walk away, she muttered some brief words.

“Her aunt said: ‘She asks that you please write her letters and send pictures from your home from time to time.’  I shook my head and agreed to fulfil this small request from a young woman who has suffered so much.”

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  • July 13, 2016 at 11:32 am
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    A touching story and covered so well,and it really doesn’t seem like 20 years ago.
    James was one of the many proficient and professional real news men who worked at Archant (or Eastern counties Newspapers as they were then) and who gave the paper credence and kudos,sadly those days and calibre of staff are long gone.

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