July 7 bombing victim returns to the stage

A COURAGEOUS  theatre director who lost a leg in the July 7 bombings last year is returning to the stage – to play the role he was denied last year.

David Gardner, director of amateur theatre group, the Hampstead Players, was due to play Brutus in his summer production of Julius Ceasar at Hampstead Parish Church in Church Row.

But instead, Mr Gardner, 51, found himself caught up in the suicide bombing at Edgware Road Tube station – one week before his opening night.

The father-of-one underwent a five-hour emergency operation during which his spleen was removed and his left leg amputated above the knee. He has spent much of the last year learning to walk again.

In an interview with the Hampstead parish church magazine this month, Mr Gardner said: “My experience on 7/7 increased my understanding of the play’s themes and characters.

“Nearly a year later, I am recovering well, although I have been left with tinnitus and a prosthesis – which sound like two characters in the play.”

The Hampstead Players’ production of Julius Caesar, directed by Mr Gardner, will be performed in the church on July 6, 7 and 8.