0:00:16.684,0:00:19.207
I could never have imagined

0:00:19.231,0:00:23.183
that a 19-year-old suicide bomber

0:00:23.207,0:00:26.888
would actually teach me a valuable lesson.

0:00:28.340,0:00:29.507
But he did.

0:00:30.340,0:00:34.959
He taught me to never presume anything

0:00:34.983,0:00:38.123
about anyone you don't know.

0:00:40.114,0:00:44.243
On a Thursday morning in July 2005,

0:00:44.267,0:00:47.325
the bomber and I, unknowingly,

0:00:47.349,0:00:51.896
boarded the same train carriage[br]at the same time,

0:00:51.920,0:00:56.383
standing, apparently, just feet apart.

0:00:58.045,0:00:59.195
I didn't see him.

0:00:59.885,0:01:01.676
Actually, I didn't see anyone.

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You know not to look[br]at anyone on the Tube,

0:01:04.311,0:01:07.612
but I guess he saw me.

0:01:08.616,0:01:11.657
I guess he looked at all of us,

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as his hand hovered[br]over the detonation switch.

0:01:18.139,0:01:22.584
I've often wondered: What was he thinking?

0:01:22.608,0:01:25.965
Especially in those final seconds.

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I know it wasn't personal.

0:01:30.677,0:01:34.694
He didn't set out to kill[br]or maim me, Gill Hicks.

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I mean -- he didn't know me.

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No.

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Instead, he gave me

0:01:42.336,0:01:46.941
an unwarranted and an unwanted label.

0:01:47.972,0:01:51.352
I had become the enemy.

0:01:53.090,0:01:56.666
To him, I was the "other,"

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the "them," as opposed to "us."

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The label "enemy" allowed him[br]to dehumanize us.

0:02:07.274,0:02:09.701
It allowed him to push that button.

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And he wasn't selective.

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Twenty-six precious lives were taken[br]in my carriage alone,

0:02:20.642,0:02:22.570
and I was almost one of them.

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In the time it takes to draw a breath,

0:02:27.220,0:02:30.890
we were plunged into a darkness so immense

0:02:30.914,0:02:33.296
that it was almost tangible;

0:02:33.320,0:02:37.679
what I imagine wading[br]through tar might be like.

0:02:38.998,0:02:41.048
We didn't know we were the enemy.

0:02:41.921,0:02:45.979
We were just a bunch of commuters[br]who, minutes earlier,

0:02:46.003,0:02:48.487
had followed the Tube etiquette:

0:02:48.511,0:02:50.717
no direct eye contact,

0:02:50.741,0:02:51.891
no talking

0:02:52.494,0:02:55.366
and absolutely no conversation.

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But in the lifting of the darkness,

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we were reaching out.

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We were helping each other.

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We were calling out our names,

0:03:08.893,0:03:11.044
a little bit like a roll call,

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waiting for responses.

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"I'm Gill. I'm here.

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I'm alive.

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OK."

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"I'm Gill.

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Here.

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Alive.

0:03:34.929,0:03:36.124
OK."

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I didn't know Alison.

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But I listened for her check-ins[br]every few minutes.

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I didn't know Richard.

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But it mattered to me that he survived.

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All I shared with them

0:03:56.170,0:03:57.653
was my first name.

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They didn't know

0:03:59.788,0:04:03.311
that I was a head of a department[br]at the Design Council.

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And here is my beloved briefcase,

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also rescued from that morning.

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They didn't know that I published[br]architecture and design journals,

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that I was a Fellow[br]of the Royal Society of Arts,

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that I wore black --

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still do --

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that I smoked cigarillos.

0:04:27.488,0:04:29.791
I don't smoke cigarillos anymore.

0:04:29.815,0:04:33.999
I drank gin and I watched TED Talks,

0:04:34.023,0:04:40.229
of course, never dreaming[br]that one day I would be standing,

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balancing on prosthetic legs,

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giving a talk.

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I was a young Australian woman[br]doing extraordinary things in London.

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And I wasn't ready for that all to end.

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I was so determined to survive

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that I used my scarf to tie tourniquets[br]around the tops of my legs,

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and I just shut everything[br]and everyone out,

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to focus, to listen to myself,

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to be guided by instinct alone.

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I lowered my breathing rate.

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I elevated my thighs.

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I held myself upright

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and I fought the urge to close my eyes.

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I held on for almost an hour,

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an hour to contemplate[br]the whole of my life

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up until this point.

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Perhaps I should have done more.

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Perhaps I could have[br]lived more, seen more.

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Maybe I should have gone running,[br]dancing, taken up yoga.

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But my priority and my focus[br]was always my work.

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I lived to work.

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Who I was on my business card

0:06:06.161,0:06:07.431
mattered to me.

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But it didn't matter down in that tunnel.

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By the time I felt that first touch

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from one of my rescuers,

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I was unable to speak,

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unable to say even[br]a small word, like "Gill."

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I surrendered my body to them.

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I had done all I possibly could,

0:06:36.439,0:06:40.135
and now I was in their hands.

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I understood

0:06:44.883,0:06:51.081
just who and what humanity really is,

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when I first saw the ID tag

0:06:54.795,0:06:58.054
that was given to me[br]when I was admitted to hospital.

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And it read:

0:06:59.818,0:07:05.088
"One unknown estimated female."

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One unknown estimated female.

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Those four words were my gift.

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What they told me very clearly

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was that my life was saved,

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purely because I was a human being.

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Difference of any kind made no difference

0:07:30.418,0:07:34.975
to the extraordinary lengths[br]that the rescuers were prepared to go

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to save my life,

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to save as many unknowns as they could,

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and putting their own lives at risk.

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To them, it didn't matter[br]if I was rich or poor,

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the color of my skin,

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whether I was male or female,

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my sexual orientation,

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who I voted for,

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whether I was educated,

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if I had a faith or no faith at all.

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Nothing mattered

0:08:04.977,0:08:09.620
other than I was a precious human life.

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I see myself as a living fact.

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I am proof

0:08:17.876,0:08:24.604
that unconditional love and respect[br]can not only save,

0:08:24.628,0:08:27.669
but it can transform lives.

0:08:28.826,0:08:33.293
Here is a wonderful image[br]of one of my rescuers, Andy, and I

0:08:33.317,0:08:35.190
taken just last year.

0:08:35.679,0:08:38.240
Ten years after the event,

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and here we are, arm in arm.

0:08:43.159,0:08:45.277
Throughout all the chaos,

0:08:45.301,0:08:48.141
my hand was held tightly.

0:08:48.800,0:08:51.673
My face was stroked gently.

0:08:52.761,0:08:54.173
What did I feel?

0:08:55.141,0:08:56.363
I felt loved.

0:08:57.285,0:09:02.102
What's shielded me from hatred[br]and wanting retribution,

0:09:02.126,0:09:05.115
what's given me the courage to say:

0:09:05.139,0:09:08.019
this ends with me

0:09:09.606,0:09:10.797
is love.

0:09:12.185,0:09:14.183
I was loved.

0:09:16.834,0:09:23.099
I believe the potential[br]for widespread positive change

0:09:23.123,0:09:24.703
is absolutely enormous

0:09:24.727,0:09:27.631
because I know what we're capable of.

0:09:27.655,0:09:30.852
I know the brilliance of humanity.

0:09:31.530,0:09:35.440
So this leaves me with some[br]pretty big things to ponder

0:09:35.464,0:09:38.866
and some questions for us all to consider:

0:09:40.112,0:09:45.985
Is what unites us not far greater[br]than what can ever divide?

0:09:47.263,0:09:51.053
Does it have to take[br]a tragedy or a disaster

0:09:51.077,0:09:55.573
for us to feel deeply[br]connected as one species,

0:09:56.502,0:09:58.361
as human beings?

0:09:59.355,0:10:04.561
And when will we embrace[br]the wisdom of our era

0:10:05.364,0:10:08.734
to rise above mere tolerance

0:10:09.531,0:10:12.468
and move to an acceptance

0:10:12.492,0:10:17.825
for all who are only a label[br]until we know them?

0:10:19.150,0:10:20.310
Thank you.

0:10:20.334,0:10:27.132
(Applause)