0:00:02 > 0:00:04Ordinary people who made history together.
0:00:04 > 0:00:06You see those faces in front of you as if it was yesterday.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10Bonds forged by adversity and then broken by time.
0:00:10 > 0:00:14Nicky became my rock. I don't know what I would have done without her.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17And the everyday heroes who risked everything.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21It would have been quite easy for her to go into hysterics, get herself out. Human nature. Survival.
0:00:22 > 0:00:27People are nice, people are good, people's humanity shone through.
0:00:27 > 0:00:33Brought together by fate, separated by life. Real Lives Reunited.
0:00:36 > 0:00:41Today, survivors of a landslide that killed 116 schoolchildren
0:00:41 > 0:00:44are reunited with the teacher who saved them.
0:00:44 > 0:00:50I am very, very grateful. At the end of the day, I'm here to tell the tale.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54Without you being there and the quick thinking, we wouldn't be here today.
0:00:54 > 0:00:58The young mum whose newborn child was abducted meets the woman
0:00:58 > 0:01:02who helped her survive 17 days of hell.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05Never been able to sit down and say, "Thank you, Nicky, for what you did.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08"Thank you for keeping me going. Thank you for everything."
0:01:08 > 0:01:14I just want to tell them both that, you know, I love them both to bits.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17And the newlywed whose life was saved by an off-duty fireman
0:01:17 > 0:01:19and an army doctor.
0:01:19 > 0:01:21If Brian wasn't there, I would be dead.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24If you didn't come along I would be dead. It's that simple.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30They think it's all over! It is now.
0:01:31 > 0:01:341966 will always be remembered for England's World Cup glory
0:01:34 > 0:01:38and for John Lennon's controversial claim that the Beatles
0:01:38 > 0:01:40were more popular than Jesus.
0:01:40 > 0:01:46But for many, a horrific disaster in a Welsh coal-mining village
0:01:46 > 0:01:48is the overriding memory of that year.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53A very, very loud noise and it got louder and louder.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58The next instant, bricks started flying through the wall.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01I don't remember a thing. Everything went black.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05It is now feared that nearly 200 lives were lost
0:02:05 > 0:02:09when the coal tip at Aberfan near Merthyr Tydfil slid forward today.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11Some of the helpers tore at the rubble
0:02:11 > 0:02:15with bare hands in their desperate efforts to get at the children.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17Is there any hope at all for the people buried there?
0:02:17 > 0:02:19No, I think there is no hope at all.
0:02:23 > 0:02:28In the mid-60s, over 100,000 men worked in the South Wales mining industry.
0:02:28 > 0:02:33In the small village of Aberfan, four miles south of Merthyr Tydfil,
0:02:33 > 0:02:3780% of the men worked in mining, many at the Merthyr Vale pit.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42Classmates Gareth Jones, Brian Williams and Elizabeth Jones
0:02:42 > 0:02:46were seven-year-olds who attended the local primary school.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48Aberfan was a lovely community, still is.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51A very close-knit community.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53Everyone looked out for everybody else.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56Nobody had any money, but everybody was happy.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00Aberfan's primary school had around 240 pupils
0:03:00 > 0:03:02and 11 members of staff.
0:03:02 > 0:03:0533-year-old Rennie Williams had been at the school for
0:03:05 > 0:03:07a year, teaching six and seven-year-olds.
0:03:07 > 0:03:12It was October and it was a very misty day
0:03:12 > 0:03:15and the mist always hangs in that part of the valley.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19We walked to school as we did every day with my sister and her friend.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22I remember going into school and taking my blazer off
0:03:22 > 0:03:24and hanging it up on the hook.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27The children attended morning assembly in the school, which
0:03:27 > 0:03:31sat in the shadow of the slag heap on the mountain above.
0:03:31 > 0:03:32It was their last day of term.
0:03:32 > 0:03:3624-year-old Hetty Williams taught 7-8 year olds.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39Always used to have a chat with the children in the morning,
0:03:39 > 0:03:42find out what they did the night before.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47The children were in the Wendy house, drawing, doing different things,
0:03:47 > 0:03:48I had a few around my desk.
0:03:48 > 0:03:53I put the register out, ready to mark the register
0:03:53 > 0:04:00- and there was this horrible sound. - Loud, loud, terrific noise.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03And I've never heard anything like it since.
0:04:03 > 0:04:08The teachers had no idea a 30-foot-high landslide of coal
0:04:08 > 0:04:13and mud was tearing down the mountain, heading directly for the school.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16I shouted to the children, because I thought it was from above,
0:04:16 > 0:04:20"Get under the desks, you must get under your desk."
0:04:20 > 0:04:23We saw the classroom wall split, from bottom to top.
0:04:23 > 0:04:24With the pressure.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28And then it just came through.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32All of a sudden there was just this black dust, timber.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35I realised something dreadful had happened.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40Two days of heavy rain had loosened the slag heap on the mountain
0:04:40 > 0:04:43above Aberfan, sending a landslide of waste
0:04:43 > 0:04:45hurtling towards the village.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48At 9:15 it smashed into the school.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51Classrooms on the mountainside were instantly destroyed
0:04:51 > 0:04:55while on the other side of the school, Rennie's pupils were
0:04:55 > 0:04:58trapped by thousands of tonnes of mud and slag.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01One of them, Elizabeth, had left the classroom seconds before impact
0:05:01 > 0:05:05and was buried alive in the corridor.
0:05:05 > 0:05:06Everything went black.
0:05:06 > 0:05:11I don't remember a thing then until I actually woke up
0:05:11 > 0:05:15and found that I was covered in this black stuff.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19Teacher Rennie had no idea what had happened
0:05:19 > 0:05:22but knew she had to get her children out.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24I passed the children out through the window,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27I stood on the chair because the window was very high up.
0:05:27 > 0:05:33We got up on some desks, the teacher, she got us out.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38When we came out of the classroom window and I looked up and I could
0:05:38 > 0:05:43see the top end of the school where my sister was and the classrooms
0:05:43 > 0:05:47were gone, so, I obviously knew from that moment on my sister was dead.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54I mean, we realised there was going to be a lot of deaths.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58In the corridor outside, Elizabeth was alive but trapped,
0:05:58 > 0:06:01both her legs broken.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03All of a sudden there was a hole in this mud
0:06:03 > 0:06:07and you could see daylight through it.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11And somebody is shouting "There's one here. We got one."
0:06:11 > 0:06:13As the horror began to sink in, Rennie
0:06:13 > 0:06:16and Hetty became part of the rescue effort.
0:06:16 > 0:06:21For us it was better, definitely for me, to be doing something.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24Otherwise you would be sitting thinking about it.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26At least I know I did as much as I could, you know?
0:06:28 > 0:06:35They set up a mortuary in the school yard and we just would go
0:06:35 > 0:06:38and identify these children.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40It was horrible.
0:06:40 > 0:06:41It was horrible.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46The landslide hit just after nine.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50The last survivor was pulled out at around 11.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54But it was almost a week before the final body was recovered.
0:06:55 > 0:07:00144 lost their lives. 116 were children.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02Why didn't it happen the following week
0:07:02 > 0:07:04and there were no children in the school?
0:07:06 > 0:07:09Some of the children were so bright, they were clever,
0:07:09 > 0:07:14what would they have done? We'll never know that.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17It was a privilege to be with them. That is all I can say.
0:07:18 > 0:07:20In the years that followed,
0:07:20 > 0:07:23the community struggled to talk about the disaster as
0:07:23 > 0:07:27they tried to protect surviving children from further pain.
0:07:27 > 0:07:32If you walked into a room and adults were talking, everybody would go quiet
0:07:32 > 0:07:37and you sort of knew what they were talking about but you never asked.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40Now, after more than 40 years,
0:07:40 > 0:07:44two of the survivors have the chance to talk to the teacher who saved them.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48It would have been quite easy for her to go into hysterics
0:07:48 > 0:07:51and get herself out, human nature, survival.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54- Mrs Williams!- How are you, Gareth?
0:07:54 > 0:07:56- How are you, my darling? - I'm fine, how are you?
0:07:56 > 0:07:59I am very, very grateful.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03I knew as soon as you got us outside,
0:08:03 > 0:08:06I knew that my sister wasn't coming home.
0:08:06 > 0:08:10- As soon as we looked up there. It was a builder's yard with all the rubble.- I could see all
0:08:10 > 0:08:12the slurry built up there
0:08:12 > 0:08:15but what I didn't realise was part of the school was under there.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18Personally we would like to thank you.
0:08:18 > 0:08:19Without you being there
0:08:19 > 0:08:22and the quick thinking, we wouldn't be here today.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27You can't always talk to your nearest and dearest, you can't.
0:08:27 > 0:08:32So it is good sometimes to talk to everyone. And share your thoughts.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35Any time, boys. I'm there.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41Later, a father remembers the daughter he lost in the disaster.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45Ann was actually a delight.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49Everybody thinks their child was perfect but I always thought she was absolutely perfect.
0:08:58 > 0:09:001990 was a tumultuous year.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04Margaret Thatcher was clinging to power, the two sides of the Channel Tunnel
0:09:04 > 0:09:08were just months from meeting and the Berlin Wall had not long fallen.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11CHEERING
0:09:11 > 0:09:15Everybody wanted to find out how far the new freedom would stretch.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18But in January that year, the headlines were dominated by
0:09:18 > 0:09:23a nationwide hunt to find a baby snatched from her mother's arms.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26There is no trace this evening of the newborn baby girl who was
0:09:26 > 0:09:27abducted from a London hospital.
0:09:27 > 0:09:32The parents of a two-day-old baby girl have appealed for her safe return.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36Police say they are becoming increasingly concerned for her safety.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38It is just the worst,
0:09:38 > 0:09:43worst nightmare that any mother could ever go through.
0:09:44 > 0:09:4821-year-old new mum Dawn Griffiths gives birth to baby Alex
0:09:48 > 0:09:54in St Thomas's Hospital in central London on 11th January 1990.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57I don't think you know exactly how you will feel until that baby
0:09:57 > 0:10:03is born and when the baby is born the instant bonding, it was amazing.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07Dawn's daughter was only 36 hours old, but she was about to become
0:10:07 > 0:10:11the most famous baby in Britain, for all the wrong reasons.
0:10:11 > 0:10:15A lady came to the foot of my bed and she said, "Griffiths,"
0:10:15 > 0:10:19and I said, "Oh, yeah." She said "Hello, I'm your health visitor."
0:10:19 > 0:10:23She said, "I need to take her and weigh her" so I thought nothing of it.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26I looked in the crib and I picked Alex up and I passed her over.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33The woman masquerading as a health visitor vanished with baby Alex,
0:10:33 > 0:10:35leaving Dawn completely traumatised.
0:10:36 > 0:10:37Within hours,
0:10:37 > 0:10:41more than 50 police officers were hunting for the missing baby.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45Rookie police officer 24-year-old Nicky Pearse was
0:10:45 > 0:10:47assigned as Dawn's liaison officer.
0:10:47 > 0:10:53When I first met Dawn she was obviously absolutely distraught.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55We very quickly formed a bond.
0:10:55 > 0:11:00Nicky became my rock. I don't know what I would have done without her.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03Less than 24 hours after the abduction, Dawn made
0:11:03 > 0:11:05an appeal on national news.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08Maybe she's lost a baby herself, I don't really know,
0:11:08 > 0:11:12but I just feel sorry for her and I know that she probably needs help.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16She would physically shake next to me, so
0:11:16 > 0:11:20I would cling on to her a little bit tighter, but, yes, it was hard.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22- Hard for her.- She was beside me the whole time.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25I don't think I could have done it without her.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28I just want my baby back.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33But Dawn could only wait as days passed into a week with no news.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35Throughout every minute of her ordeal,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38Nicky refused to leave Dawn's side.
0:11:38 > 0:11:39She wasn't just doing nine till five.
0:11:42 > 0:11:47She didn't take the off. She became a very, very, very good friend.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51Very good friend. She just tried to make things easier for me.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56She used to bring a hairdryer in, make me sort my her out.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59Things that a best friend would do.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02I made sure I was there before Dawn woke up, I made sure I was there
0:12:02 > 0:12:04when she went to sleep.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07Only time she was not there was to go home to go to sleep.
0:12:07 > 0:12:13I would go home after my day and ring my parents in floods of tears.
0:12:13 > 0:12:18That got it out of me and then switch back on and back into work mode again.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20But in the middle of the night,
0:12:20 > 0:12:2417 days into the hunt for missing Alex, everything changed.
0:12:24 > 0:12:29I was asleep, got a phone call and all I heard was shouting and cheering.
0:12:29 > 0:12:35This police officer starts walking down with a Moses basket. And...
0:12:35 > 0:12:39She went..."It's Alex."
0:12:40 > 0:12:42I looked in and it was her.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45All I wanted to do was Take her to show Nicky.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47To say, "This is Alex."
0:12:48 > 0:12:51"This is what you have been looking for, this is Alex."
0:12:51 > 0:12:54They walked in and Dawn was just,
0:12:54 > 0:12:57literally the smile went round the back of her head, it was so big.
0:12:57 > 0:13:03Big burly policemen, crying. It was amazing.
0:13:03 > 0:13:08- How are you feeling? - I can't describe it in words.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11With mother and daughter back together and the baby snatcher
0:13:11 > 0:13:16in police custody, the case was closed, but Nicky was still there for Dawn.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20We became such good friends that she was part of my life at this point
0:13:20 > 0:13:24and I asked her to be godmother to Alex at the christening.
0:13:24 > 0:13:29What a huge honour and a surprise, a lovely surprise.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31Despite the incredible bond they'd shared,
0:13:31 > 0:13:35they lost touch when Dawn moved away from London and Nicky left the country.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38It's one of those things you think, "I'll write tomorrow"
0:13:38 > 0:13:41and tomorrow becomes a week, becomes three months,
0:13:41 > 0:13:43becomes six months, becomes a year.
0:13:43 > 0:13:48We lost contact, which is really, really sad.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51Because she was such a major part of my life.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55Later, the woman who lost her baby and the police officer who
0:13:55 > 0:13:59became her best friend meet for the first time in over 20 years.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03To be able to sit down and say "Thank you, Nicky for what you did,
0:14:03 > 0:14:06"thank you for keeping me going, thank you for everything."
0:14:11 > 0:14:14For newlywed 30-year-old Sara Baxter,
0:14:14 > 0:14:19Friday, 13th July 2012 started like any other day.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22But within minutes of beginning her commute to work,
0:14:22 > 0:14:27her life was to change in the way she could never have imagined.
0:14:27 > 0:14:30It was my six-month wedding anniversary to the day,
0:14:30 > 0:14:34and I was travelling to work at a the local supermarket
0:14:34 > 0:14:37and that is all I remember about that day.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41Part-time handyman Brian Lynch was working for his friend, Wendy Bugg,
0:14:41 > 0:14:44- and her family. - All of a sudden there was a thud.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46CRASHING
0:14:47 > 0:14:50We both looked at each other and said, "That is an accident."
0:14:50 > 0:14:54Brian and Wendy raced to the road.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57Tell me exactly what happened?
0:14:57 > 0:15:00"There has been a car crash, it is very serious. She needs immediate attention"
0:15:00 > 0:15:04Sara had lost control of her car and ploughed into a stationary tractor.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10Her vehicle had been crushed by the impact, pinning her to her seat.
0:15:11 > 0:15:16Luckily for Sara, Brian is a retained firefighter.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20Wendy stayed on the phone while Brian started CPR in a desperate
0:15:20 > 0:15:22bid to keep Sara alive.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26'Her airway is clear, he's got her breathing.'
0:15:26 > 0:15:30All three emergency services raced to the scene.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35But Dr Leon Roberts also took the call that day.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38On the morning of the accident, I was at home with my family about to
0:15:38 > 0:15:40go to a children's party.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44Lieutenant Colonel Roberts is a doctor in the Royal Army Medical Corps
0:15:44 > 0:15:47and a volunteer for the East Midlands Immediate Care Scheme,
0:15:47 > 0:15:51a charity specialising in serious trauma emergencies.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56Here we go. You have emergency services on their way now.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59Let me know who it is as soon as they arrive.
0:16:01 > 0:16:06- It's a doctor.- It is a doctor. - Romeo Delta 0-5, Doctor Roberts.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09Romeo Delta 0-5, Doctor Roberts.
0:16:09 > 0:16:14- Serious injury. Helicopter, please. - Helicopter has been dispatched.
0:16:15 > 0:16:20When I got to Sara it was obvious she was critically injured.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24She was in a semi-coma. Her breathing was laboured and her pulse was weak.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28Every second counts and thanks to Dr Roberts, Sara
0:16:28 > 0:16:32received critical care ten minutes before the first ambulance arrived.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36She was flown to hospital in Coventry where
0:16:36 > 0:16:38she was in a coma for three days.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41They told me I had broken my right arm, they also told me
0:16:41 > 0:16:44I had broken my pelvis in four places and they said
0:16:44 > 0:16:48I had done some damage to my brain and had a little bit of a bleed on my brain.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52The accident happened outside the gates of Grimsthorpe Castle and today,
0:16:52 > 0:16:54just yards from the crash scene,
0:16:54 > 0:16:57Sara is meeting the two strangers who helped save her life.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01How are you? Give me some love!
0:17:01 > 0:17:05After leaving hospital, Sara tracked down and thanked Brian
0:17:05 > 0:17:07but she's never met Wendy and together
0:17:07 > 0:17:10the three are about to relive the moments immediately after the crash.
0:17:13 > 0:17:18- 'There has been a car crash. It's very serious.- Is she awake?
0:17:18 > 0:17:19'No, she's unconscious.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23'You will have to send the ambulance quick because she is very serious.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26- 'How is the patient doing now? - Her breathing is getting far worse,
0:17:26 > 0:17:28'Her breathing is getting far worse?
0:17:28 > 0:17:32'OK, I'm organising help for you now.'
0:17:32 > 0:17:34It's extraordinary.
0:17:34 > 0:17:41- I wouldn't have recognised my own voice.- No, hear that panic in your voice.- Did I try and talk to you?
0:17:41 > 0:17:43Not at all.
0:17:43 > 0:17:49- In actual fact, every time your head went back we lost you.- Yeah.- Hello!
0:17:49 > 0:17:53One other person Sara has come to thank is Dr Leon Roberts.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57I must be honest, it is great for us to be here
0:17:57 > 0:18:00but it is great that you have been brave enough to do it
0:18:00 > 0:18:02because we very rarely get to follow it up
0:18:02 > 0:18:05so today means a huge amount to myself and all the other
0:18:05 > 0:18:09people that were there, to see someone doing so well.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11There's not enough thank yous that you can say to people.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15At the end of the day, if Brian wasn't there, if Wendy wasn't there,
0:18:15 > 0:18:18I would be dead. If you didn't come along, I would be dead. It's that simple.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22The kindness of strangers kept Sara alive
0:18:22 > 0:18:25but a painful consequence of the accident is memory loss.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29There is large chunks of my life that I simply don't remember.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32And one of those chunks is her wedding day.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35But she's going to do something about that.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38When you marry somebody, that is a massive commitment.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41And when you can't remember taking those vows and saying,
0:18:41 > 0:18:47saying to that person that they will be there for ever, it is horrible.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51I have already spoken to my husband and we are going to renew our vows.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55And that'll be good because that would be a memory that I can remember and I can keep and I can have.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57And it will be mine.
0:19:06 > 0:19:11Children account for over two-thirds of all missing persons cases reported each year.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15Thankfully, most are found within 48 hours.
0:19:15 > 0:19:21But in 1990, new mum Dawn Griffiths' life was shattered when her daughter was the first baby ever to be
0:19:21 > 0:19:23abducted from a British maternity ward.
0:19:25 > 0:19:28She took her to weigh her and said she would be back
0:19:28 > 0:19:30but she never came back.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34Dawn's ordeal lasted for 17 days.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36It is just the worst,
0:19:36 > 0:19:41worst nightmare that any mother could ever go through.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43You don't know if she's dead, you don't know if she's alive.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46It's just a feeling of emptiness.
0:19:46 > 0:19:51Beside throughout was police liaison officer PC Nicky Pearse.
0:19:51 > 0:19:56It was hard sometimes to remain positive in front of her,
0:19:56 > 0:19:57but that was my job.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00She must have been drained as well but she never showed it.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03After two weeks, police got a tip-off that a woman matching
0:20:03 > 0:20:07their sketch of a suspect was in a Cotswold village.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11Janet Griffiths had taken baby Alex in an attempt to prevent her
0:20:11 > 0:20:14married lover leaving her by claiming the child was his.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17She was found guilty of child abduction
0:20:17 > 0:20:20and sent to a psychiatric hospital.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24After the ordeal, Dawn moved to America for a short time,
0:20:24 > 0:20:27while Nicky left the police and made a new life in the Middle East.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31Despite everything they had been through, the pair lost touch.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34I think the bond that we built because of what happened,
0:20:34 > 0:20:37I don't think those can ever be broken, ever.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40Just want to thank her. I have never thanked her.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43Never been able to sit down and say "Thank you, Nicky, for what you
0:20:43 > 0:20:46"did, thank you for keeping me going.
0:20:46 > 0:20:53- "Thank you for everything." - I just want to tell them both that I love them both to bits.
0:20:54 > 0:20:55You know.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02Throughout every minute of those horrendous 17 days,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04Nicky was by Dawn's side.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07It's been over 20 years since they met.
0:21:22 > 0:21:28- You're all grown up! How many years?- Too many years.
0:21:30 > 0:21:35There's only one thing missing, though. Do you want to see her?
0:21:35 > 0:21:36She is here.
0:21:42 > 0:21:44- Nice to meet you!- Nice to meet you!
0:21:44 > 0:21:45This is your godmother!
0:21:47 > 0:21:48It is really nice to meet you.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00Dawn and Nicky have over two decades to catch up on.
0:22:00 > 0:22:05I so much wanted you to see Alex as a grown-up person - that's
0:22:05 > 0:22:08who you were all looking for.
0:22:08 > 0:22:12That was my thing straight away. "We have got to find her." For you.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14Immediately, no matter what.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17To think that you weren't going to get your baby back.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21You never let me believe that.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24Did you ever think that she might not come back but never told me?
0:22:24 > 0:22:27It entered my head but I wouldn't let it stay long.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31You never ever let me believe for one moment that she was not
0:22:31 > 0:22:33going to come back.
0:22:33 > 0:22:38I look back now and I think, God, how did we manage to do it for 17 days?
0:22:39 > 0:22:42Four years later, the unthinkable happened again.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46Police in Nottinghamshire have set up roadblocks to stop a woman who
0:22:46 > 0:22:48abducted a newborn baby.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51Five-hour-old Abbie Humphries was
0:22:51 > 0:22:54snatched from the Queen Elizabeth Medical Centre in Nottingham.
0:22:54 > 0:22:58Dawn offered words of comfort to Abbie's distraught parents.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00Don't give up.
0:23:00 > 0:23:01The baby will be returned.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04Nobody takes a baby unless they are going to look after it.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08Abbie was found by police 15 days later.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11Since Alex and Abbie's abductions, the NHS has improved
0:23:11 > 0:23:13security on maternity wards.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17with staff identification, CCTV and alarmed mattresses.
0:23:19 > 0:23:25- In 1990, all Dawn had was Nicky's support.- Thank you. So much...
0:23:25 > 0:23:27for being there for me.
0:23:27 > 0:23:33I do need to thank you because you gave me a reason to get out of bed.
0:23:37 > 0:23:42Nicky was my rock, and I have missed her a lot. I needed to see you again.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44I needed to say thank you.
0:23:55 > 0:24:01Just after nine in the morning of 21st October 1966, the small Welsh village
0:24:01 > 0:24:05of Aberfan was hit by a disaster that left the world in shock.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09One teacher said she heard a big rumbling sound
0:24:09 > 0:24:12and shouted to the children to get under their desks.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16Split seconds later, the classroom walls cracked and collapsed.
0:24:16 > 0:24:20A sudden and devastating landslide sent thousands of tonnes
0:24:20 > 0:24:25of coal waste, rubble and mud hurtling down the mountain.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29The local primary school, with around 240 pupils inside, was
0:24:29 > 0:24:32directly in its path. 144 people died.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36116 of them were children.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39Brian Williams is one of the survivors.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43The tips actually slid and came at an angle
0:24:43 > 0:24:48so they came across the school like this. The corner of the school there took the brunt.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51So all of this area of the school, the top classes,
0:24:51 > 0:24:53they were totally engulfed.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57All the children up this end would have had no chance whatsoever.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00One pupil at the end of the school was Arthur O'Brien.
0:25:00 > 0:25:05His younger sister, six-year-old Elizabeth, was pulled from the rubble alive.
0:25:05 > 0:25:11Arthur and I were only three years apart in age and we were very close.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13We played together.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16It's hard to accept that my brother was gone and I'll never see him.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18And I really do miss him.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26Brian Williams lost his ten-year-old sister, June, that day.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29There was nobody in Aberfan that wasn't affected by what happened,
0:25:29 > 0:25:34whether it be direct siblings, sons and daughters,
0:25:34 > 0:25:40cousins, nephews - it was such a small community.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44In the panic and confusion that followed, parents desperately searched
0:25:44 > 0:25:48for their children, clawing at the black mud with their bare hands.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51Ray Lee was a father searching for his daughter, Ann.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57On the Friday evening you were given out a list of all the people
0:25:57 > 0:25:59who they found. They were safe.
0:25:59 > 0:26:03One of the names was Ann Lee which was my daughter's name.
0:26:03 > 0:26:08I thought, "Thank God for that, she's OK." But it was another Ann Lee.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11She was saved and my Ann died.
0:26:11 > 0:26:1440 years on, he still struggles with the loss.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18I don't like talking about it. It is still very painful when you think about it.
0:26:18 > 0:26:23You think, "She would be 55 now," you think to yourself,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25"She would have kids, grandkids."
0:26:27 > 0:26:29You can't do anything about that.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39In the wake of their loss, the men of the village found their voice.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41CHOIR SINGING
0:26:49 > 0:26:52The tragedy prompted an outpouring of support
0:26:52 > 0:26:56from all over the world. Over £1.6 million was donated to the
0:26:56 > 0:27:00village, 25 million in today's money.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03For the Ynysowen choir, singing became not only
0:27:03 > 0:27:07a release but a way of giving thanks to those who helped.
0:27:07 > 0:27:10Welsh choirs are emotional things to be in, it is
0:27:10 > 0:27:14a good way to get your feelings out into the open.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25It is the friendship that you get around it that helped you.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28If you ever needed anyone to talk to, they were always there to talk to.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33And I think that was part of the healing process as far as I was concerned.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39The remaining spoil tips on the mountain above Aberfan were removed.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41The wreckage of the school is long gone.
0:27:41 > 0:27:46Those who died will never be forgotten. Members of the Ynysowen choir
0:27:46 > 0:27:49put all their emotion and passion into their singing.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59When people say to me, "Have you ever won the lottery?"
0:27:59 > 0:28:05I said "Yes, October 21st, 1966. Because I came out."
0:28:05 > 0:28:07That's what it was. It was a lottery.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12If you're in it and you came out, you were very, very lucky.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15It just wasn't your time, basically.
0:28:20 > 0:28:25Next time, survivors of Britain's worst oil rig disaster.
0:28:25 > 0:28:31It was the last option. To jump or, well, there was no other option.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35And reunited, the nurses who launched the NHS.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38We saved thousands of lives in the first 12 months.
0:28:38 > 0:28:43How many have been saved since? I just couldn't calculate.