Angel of Mostar & Witchell and Booan Real Lives Reunited

Ordinary people...

-Look at that.

-Tsunami!

..extraordinary stories.

It was one of the most amazing days of my life.

It just felt like being part of a moment in history.

Bonds forged amid triumphs...

and tragedies.

She came to help people.

So, to me, she is an angel. She is a great person.

It would mean an awful lot to me

to be able to say thank you to the firemen that saved me.

They shared a past, then faced a future apart.

I just hope I recognise them!

Brought together by fate...

It's going to be very emotional.

..separated by time.

# Rap 'er to bank, me canny lad! #

Real lives reunited.

In today's programme...

from Britain to the battlefield.

One woman's mission to rescue warzone refugees.

Well, basically, I came in to bring medicines, but I found

there's a lot of sick children, wounded children,

in different villages around places that are almost completely cut off.

And they are being shelled daily.

Life saved, sight restored.

The girl who's waited 16 years to say "thank you".

You are an angel. Yes, you are.

I am so happy to see you.

And breaking news.

We have rather been invaded by some people who

we hope to be removing very shortly.

What will happen when presenter and protester meet again?

-No handcuffs this time, then?

-Ah, wait and see.

-OK!

# You'll remember me

# When the west wind moves

# Upon the fields of barley

# You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky

# As we walk in fields of gold... #

In the early '90s, the fall of communism in Eastern Europe

led to a series of vicious conflicts.

The former Yugoslavia split into six separate states,

with ethnic groups fighting each other for territory.

The war in Bosnia was especially brutal.

In this position,

the Bosnians are only 15 feet from their Croat enemies.

Everything they have suffered since the war started

has made one essential fact very clear -

if they are going to survive, it is down to them.

Nobody is going to come to the rescue.

When Sarajevo, home to a quarter of a million Muslims,

came under fierce attack from Serb militias,

the TV pictures outraged viewers around the world.

They included a young artist from Brighton named Sally Becker.

I saw a woman trying to cross the road in Sarajevo, the reporter

was talking about the fact that snipers were targeting the area.

She was there with a child of about three years old

and she suddenly turned to the camera and she said,

"Why is no-one helping us?"

And it touched a chord with me and I just thought,

"Yeah, why isn't anyone helping her?"

Sally was 31, with no experience of delivering humanitarian aid.

But she wanted to help.

She contacted the United Nations

and later that year advertised for volunteers who'd be willing

to join a convoy taking medical equipment to Bosnia.

I thought, "Well, OK, you know, the opportunity's there,

"I'm up for it, I'll go and do it."

It was just the chance to take part in something worthwhile.

We had a new ambulance which we were given to take but were told

not to come back with bullet holes in it by the chief.

Thanks to an intensive media campaign,

Sally's ambitious plan caught the public's imagination.

In just six weeks, she found over 250 volunteers,

plus a convoy of 57 ambulances and trucks.

The aim - to get aid to the war-torn Bosnian city of Mostar.

On the 10th of December, 1993, which was World Human Rights Day,

we all gathered on Brighton seafront.

There were 250-something volunteers.

It was one of the most amazing days of my life.

But soon after the convoy set off, problems developed.

Vehicles broke down,

arguments broke out, Sally's own inexperience led to criticism.

Some of the vehicles had obviously been overloaded,

so there was a big kerfuffle, a big airing of views

about how well the convoy had been organised, this, that and the other.

All of it was basically down to people that hadn't prepared properly

and thought it through.

Of course, I'm no professional.

I had never led such a big convoy before,

and there were all kinds of hold-ups and problems en route.

But when they finally arrived in Mostar,

those problems were quickly forgotten.

They found civilians in desperate need of food,

blankets and medicines.

And they found themselves in constant danger.

Brian had a close shave with a sniper's bullet.

There was this "whht" noise as it went past.

Must've been within a few feet.

And I instantly knew what it was - it was a round going past me.

Sally put herself in even greater jeopardy.

She travelled into the besieged east side of the city,

where the UN took her to 48 badly injured civilians.

She then took them out of the city

to her convoy waiting on the outskirts.

I was so relieved to get out in one piece,

and then suddenly, suddenly...

there was this circle of ambulances from Britain,

and the patients I had fought so hard for

were being carried from the UN vehicles into the ambulances

and I knew that at last they were safe.

And it was the most incredible, incredible moment.

The volunteers drove the casualties to an airport,

where they were flown away for urgent treatment.

48 lives saved, £1 million worth of medical aid delivered.

# I blame you for the moonlit sky

# And the dream that died with the eagles' flight... #

Sally's operation created worldwide headlines.

She was dubbed "the Angel of Mostar".

But she still insists that others should share the credit.

Without the volunteers, that mission would never have happened.

It couldn't have happened.

I couldn't possibly have gone to all those places,

I couldn't possibly have evacuated all those people.

The fact that so many people are alive today is thanks to them.

# Don't blame this sleeping satellite... #

The aid mission may not always have run smoothly,

but it ended successfully.

And more than two decades on,

Sally is meeting up with some of her fellow aid workers.

Well, having never really seen any of the volunteers since,

I've never known how they felt about the mission.

I think a lot could have been done better, and I agree.

I'm the first to criticise myself.

I was a terrible convoy leader,

but hopefully they realise that

I was just one person trying to do something.

The reunion is taking place at the Brighton hotel

from where the convoy set off in 1993.

'Now I'm feeling nervous.'

I wish they'd hurry up!

Hope I'll know them.

But the question is, will they recognise me, 21 years on?

Ex-volunteer Andy certainly does...

-Hello, Sally.

-Hello!

God, it's so nice to see you.

..as does former ambulance man, Brian...

Hello, Sally.

-God!

-Oh, dear!

..along with a third volunteer, Gordon Bushell.

In the years since the mission, he's developed severe osteoporosis.

-Wow.

-Hello, you.

I've got so many memories from that week we spent together.

When the convoy set off in 1993,

Gordon was interviewed by a TV news crew.

'All of these guys, and the women, too, obviously,

'are doing this job unpaid. Let's start with...'

Look how different I am now!

You were losing your hair there!

I know I was losing my hair there, yeah, but...

I've got two children at home that we've bought presents for.

They're going to have a real good Christmas when we get back.

'They're not going to have Christmas at all in Bosnia, so we're going to help them.'

The only one that doesn't look any different is Sally!

That's not what my daughter says.

PRESENTER: 'No chance of evacuation.'

Wow, I've never seen this.

That's the convoy coming back with our casualties, yeah.

This is where it looked like a wagon train thing in a Western, wasn't it?

-All in a circle.

-All parked in the compound, yeah.

'..In Bosnia as soon as possible.'

-Were you pleased with what we achieved out there?

-Of course.

-Yeah?

-Of course. You know...

..I've never forgotten it, and it spurred me on to do so much more.

I'm so grateful that you guys joined me.

Wow.

Can only say thank you for putting that appeal out.

You know, we were so grateful

to be able to be part of the team that went out there.

The disagreements that dogged the mission are long forgotten.

What remains is a sense of pride at what they achieved.

Can I ask you something?

If you were all well...

and I said to you, "Right, we're going to do it again..."

-I'd jump at the chance.

-Would you?

-I would.

-We'd go.

I thought you might say that.

'It was quite a big mission and it took its toll, no doubt.'

And none of them really knew if they'd even get back safely.

So, to say they would take that risk again is really something.

As for Sally, she did take that risk again,

this time in war-ravaged Kosovo.

Coming up, the girl she evacuated to safety

finally gets the chance to thank her.

It's so lovely to see you.

-It's lovely to see you too.

-You look amazing!

# Don't you tell me no Don't you tell me no

# Soul, I hear you calling

# Oh, baby, please

# Give a little respect to me... #

1988 - the year that gay pride turned into gay anger.

The target of their rage - Clause 28 of the new Local Government Act.

Ministers introduced it after newspaper claims that some schools

were promoting same-sex relationships.

Opponents said it amounted to discrimination.

The last time legislation like this was passed was exactly 50 years ago,

and that was in Hitler's Third Reich.

On May 23rd, Booan Temple joined other activists on a march

through central London.

As the marchers arrived at Downing Street,

the police deployed to stop them entering.

They knew the demo was likely to create headlines.

Afterwards, they hatched a plot that would guarantee it.

Four, three, two, one...

We made a decision to invade the BBC News

because we really felt we needed to maximise the publicity

we could get for this hideous bit of legislation being enacted.

Because it was the day that it became law.

Just before 6pm,

Booan and three others sneaked into BBC Television's west London HQ.

They then found their way to the news studio,

where presenters Sue Lawley and Nicholas Witchell

were preparing for that evening's bulletin.

Five, four, three...

There was the light above the door and we knew it would go green when it went on air,

so we waited for that and then barged in.

Good evening, the headlines at six o'clock.

-WOMAN IN BACKGROUND: Stop Section 28!

-In the House of Lords,

a vote is taking place now on a challenge to the poll tax.

Stop Section 28!

For that instant, you wonder, "Well, what is happening?"

Are they a threat?

And I do apologise if you're hearing quite a lot of noise in the studio at the moment.

I am afraid that we have rather been invaded.

There were so many people in there and they all went completely bonkers.

-MUFFLED SHOUTING

-Peers have been discussing the community charge, or poll tax.

"It's Nicholas Witchell in the Six O'Clock News studio. The studio has been invaded."

That prospect has already brought warnings...

"Send security immediately."

Six million viewers couldn't believe their eyes.

Nor, up in the studio gallery, could associate producer,

Grant Clelland.

I ran into the studio and I could see that one of the protesters

had chained herself behind the desk

and another had chained herself to the camera, and I could see that

Nick was very much trying to get the show on the road.

I was rugby-tackled and hit the ground with a great crash,

because I think it was kind of like no mercy for them.

They didn't know what was happening,

and so their response was quite robust.

I lowered myself onto her and sat on her,

and tried to restrain her by putting my hand over her mouth.

And then she was going, "Mm, mm, mm, mm!"

And I think, possibly, I had my hand so firmly over her mouth

that she was actually, by that stage, having difficulty breathing.

I don't know. So, you know, I sort of released my grip.

Luckily, I think, within a few minutes,

some sort of very large BBC security men arrived and unbolted them

from the camera, wherever they had attached themselves to.

'Led away, the women repeated their protest.'

We're protesting about rights for lesbian and gay people.

As the protesters were removed, the presenters continued broadcasting.

That's it from us.

Michael Buerk and Philip Hayton will be here at nine o'clock.

Nicholas and I - just us - will be here tomorrow. Good night.

The protestors were arrested but the BBC declined to press charges.

Once released, they complimented Sue Lawley on her calm response.

She was...extremely cool, that woman, eh?

-Yeah, she was.

-Listening to Desert Island Discs on Sunday.

The activists got the publicity they'd sought,

but not necessarily the headlines.

The press response very much focused in on the idea of "loony lezzies".

Memorably, in the Daily Mirror, "Beeb man sits on lesbian."

Which was, I suppose, quite an unusual headline, really.

In the intervening years, Sue Lawley has left the BBC,

Nick Witchell has travelled the world

as the BBC's Royal Correspondent,

and Booan has become a barrister.

Today, she's planning to call on Nick again,

only this time, she's been invited.

SHE CHUCKLES

I often say that if I'm ever remembered for anything in the BBC,

it will either be as the man who sat on that lady protester

on the Six O'Clock News all those years ago

or as the man who was called "that awful man" by Prince Charles

on an icy ski slope in Klosters.

# Maybe I didn't treat you

# Quite as good as I should... #

I am wearing the T-shirt that I wore in 1988

so that Nick Witchell can recognise me.

# I never took the time

# You were always on my mind... #

I'm looking forward to just hearing how it was

that this small moment in television news history was planned,

how it came about, how it was from their perspective.

My view of him is somewhat clouded by his behaviour on the day,

and I am just hoping that he feels...

a bit calmer.

SHE LAUGHS

-We meet again!

-Hello.

-Hello. Fancy meeting you here.

-How nice...

-Here you are at the BBC again!

-I know.

-But in a different circumstance.

-No handcuffs this time, then?

-Ah, wait and see!

-OK!

Not going to chain yourself to the table or anything, no?

-No, those days are gone.

-It is really nice to meet you, actually.

Isn't it? It's fascinating.

Are you the person I sat on?

Thankfully not. I'm glad I wasn't.

What happened to her, do you know?

I know she was, erm, quite distressed at being sat on.

She was very upset about it.

Well, if she's watching, or if you do subsequently get in touch

with her, please apologise to her.

-Yeah.

-If, in the heat of the moment, she was distressed...

I'm sorry if that happened to her.

No, that's absolutely... Apology taken, thank you.

-And I do apologise if...

-Throughout the studio invasion,

the presenters had to appear as calm as possible.

Behind the scenes, there was panic.

Hello, how are you?

Grant, who's joining today's reunion, was in the thick of it.

-Were you in the gallery?

-I was in the gallery, yes.

-Was that you swearing?

-No, that was... I'd never do that, no.

Somebody did, though, and the evidence has been preserved.

Grant has a recording that Booan has never heard before.

Yeah, brief glimpse of one protester.

'Stop Section 28!'

-"Stop Clause 28"?

-Yeah.

'Tory rebels have said the tax...'

-Yeah, "Mm, mm, mm, mm!"

-Yes, naughty.

She got one "Stop Section 28" out.

'We do apologise...

'I am afraid that we have rather been invaded by some people

'who we want to be removing very shortly.'

-One of the classic lines in TV - "We've been rather invaded by some people."

-Yes, "rather been invaded".

Bless her, Sue did such a fantastic job.

-Well, well, well...

-26 years.

-26 years ago.

-And look at us now.

-Yeah!

Clause 28 was later repealed.

No-one was ever prosecuted as a result of it.

But those who opposed it still believe they were right.

The reason why we chose to take such a risk, actually -

because, potentially, we could have faced quite serious charges

had the BBC chosen to press them -

was the seriousness and the extreme nature

of that piece of legislation,

which was just anti-everybody's civil rights

and civil liberties, actually.

It was a serious attack and that's why we made a serious response.

Yeah, it was remarkably well-planned, I'd have to say.

Mm, thank you very much!

It has been intriguing meeting you.

If anyone else thinks that they want to try it again,

they should be aware that the security here is extremely tight

and extremely good, but it has been fascinating.

They can contact me and find out! No, no, I'm joking.

The BBC's old Shepherd's Bush studios have now closed.

Today, the news comes from New Broadcasting House.

Nick's arranged a visit for Booan. A scheduled one, this time.

You never quite know what to expect in a situation like this,

and given that we met in pretty unusual circumstances 26 years ago,

it was really nice to meet her.

Well, I hope it has been a pleasant, rewarding return.

-It has been a pleasure to meet you.

-I'm glad that I've been invited.

'The big thing is that I have been invited back by the BBC,

'so, you know, 26 years ago,'

this country was extremely homophobic and it is a lot, lot less now.

'And the fact that Nick and I have had an interesting conversation

'and shared our experiences'

is part of the proof of that positive change.

By 1998, fighting in the former Yugoslavia had spilled into Kosovo,

where Serb nationalists were attacking ethnic Albanians.

Thousands were killed or driven from their homes.

Volunteer aid worker Sally Becker had achieved fame for her relief

efforts in Bosnia five years earlier.

Now, she was on a new mission - filmed by a documentary crew -

to help people in besieged villages.

Well, basically, I came in to bring medicines,

but I found there's a lot of sick children, wounded children,

in different villages around places that are almost completely cut off.

And they are being shelled daily.

They knew that the villages were going to be overrun very soon.

They were already surrounded

and they had been hit by countless shells.

Staying put meant the locals faced a potential massacre.

A number of families asked Sally to lead them

across the mountains to the safety of Albania.

It was very, very steep in parts.

At times, we would carry the children

because the mule couldn't keep its footing.

It was really hard.

Hard and dangerous - Serb paramilitaries were everywhere.

But Sally pressed on.

Among those she led on the trek was three-year-old Marigona Krasniqi,

who was suffering from severe cataracts

and on the verge of blindness.

She was there to help many people.

She was helping many people there and, yeah, one of them, it's me.

With the border, and safety, just a few miles away, Sally

and the refugees suddenly came under attack from Serb paramilitaries.

Marigona and her mother ran for their lives.

RAPID GUNFIRE

You're going to die. You knew that, "I'm going to die now."

I don't know where we got the strength to run away.

Sally shielded a family beneath a tree as the bullets hit

the branches above their heads.

The baby was screaming, "Mama, mama." It was just awful.

It was really, really bad.

After about an hour, I was so sure that we were just going to be killed,

I decided that I had to risk standing up and calling out.

And suddenly, it all went quiet.

By standing up, Sally showed the Serbs she was unarmed

and her gamble paid off.

They arrested her and the family but spared their lives.

I can say that she is an angel because we don't have many people

in this world that would die to help someone live.

She was there in war with us. She could have been dead now.

Sally was sentenced to 30 days in a Serbian prison.

Once released, she met up with a fellow aid worker and tried

to trace Marigona and the others from whom she'd been separated.

They found them in a refugee camp in Albania,

among thousands of Kosovans who'd been terrorised out of their homes.

I was amazed at how many children were in the camp

and the appalling conditions they were living in.

How people can live like that, it just makes you cry. And, actually,

I had tears in my eyes when I saw the way these people were living.

It was unbelievable.

Marigona was flown back to the UK,

where Sally found a top eye specialist

to perform the surgery needed to save the three-year-old's sight.

We had to act quickly because with Marigona at that age,

the cataracts can lead to permanent sight loss.

I wanted to help her regain her sight so she could really enjoy life.

The operation was a success - Marigona's sight was saved.

After recovering in Brighton, she returned to her family in Albania.

She hasn't seen Sally since then, but has always remained grateful

to the woman she calls her "guardian angel".

The gift that Sally gave me is seeing this beautiful world,

and living the life.

If I was blind, there wouldn't be a life like this, you know?

It would be... I would always have something stuck in my heart, like,

"How does this world look like and how does my family look like?"

16 years later, and Marigona is about to fulfil a long-held wish.

She's travelled to the UK to thank the woman who saved her life

and the surgeon who saved her sight.

It's really one of my dreams since I was a little girl

to meet Sally one day, and I'm very excited that it's today.

I am nervous, really, really nervous,

meeting her after so many years.

Excited, happy...

I don't know, I'm... Ooh, shaking!

'I'm looking forward to seeing her again, most of all because

'I know what she went through.

'And I need to be sure that, despite everything, she's come through it OK.

'That she can see and that she is happy and living a normal life.'

I'm nervous, really nervous. I can't wait till she comes in.

Hi!

It's so lovely to see you.

-It's lovely to see you too.

-You look amazing. Don't be sad.

-You've grown.

-Yeah!

-Come and sit down.

-Oh, you look just the same.

-Really?

-Yes. You are an angel. Yes, you are.

-My daughter doesn't think so, I assure you!

-Oh, you are.

There are two others who want to meet Marigona today -

surgeon, Christopher Liu,

who performed the operation on her eyes...

-Hi, Marigona.

-Hi!

..and Sally's fellow aid worker, Mike,

who helped find her among the thousands of refugees.

He's brought along photos of her while she was inside the camp.

They were all there saying goodbye, all the people in the camp.

So brave.

I would really like to thank you all

for everything that you have done for me

and for helping everyone in Kosovo.

I am really, really thankful to you all.

That was amazing. Really, really amazing.

It's like one of my dreams just came true. It's amazing.

I am very, very happy.

Right...

There's another reason Marigona's surgeon is seeing her today.

It's been so long since the operation,

he wants to check if any new cataracts are developing.

Patients who have them in childhood

are at risk of glaucoma in later life.

Look straight, please. Left a little.

-Well done. Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

It's good news.

The implant is in the right place.

It's been a success.

-Very well done.

-Thank you.

Marigona's visit ends with a celebratory family dinner

at the surgeon's home.

In the 16 years since she was last here, the sick

and frightened child has matured into a healthy and happy adult.

It's hard to believe that that three-year-old little tomboy with sticky-out ears

is that poised, elegant, beautiful young woman that we've seen today.

You don't get days like this often in a lifetime.

She deserved to have a better life. She deserved to survive.

And she might not have,

so I just thank goodness that I was there that day.

It's the best day of my life, and I am sure I will always remember it.