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Dunblane massacre survivor bids for glory
Scotland's Andrew Murray, tipped as the next Tim Henman, knows what it's like to cope with pressure ? eight years ago, he survived a school shooting massacre which plunged Britain into mourning.
Scotland's Andrew Murray, who has been tipped as the next Tim Henman, knows what it's like to cope with pressure - eight years ago, he survived a school shooting massacre which plunged Britain into mourning.
Murray was just nine-years-old when misfit Thomas Hamilton went berserk in the sleepy central Scottish town and gunned down 16 children and one teacher at Murray's primary school.
"I was only nine at the time so I don't remember too much about it," said Murray who is now 17 and second seed in the Wimbledon junior event this week.
"It was a really difficult time for the town but I think everyone has recovered well from it and the town has moved on."
The gangling teenager hopes to return to the All England Club next year and play in the men's event and he says he is getting used to the attention he receives when he plays.
"It's nice to be compared to Tim Henman," he said. "I'm just starting off and he's done unbelievably well for the last 10 years. If I can do what he has done, then I will be very happy."
Wherever he goes, the teenager is questioned about the events of 1996. He prefers not to discuss them, while his mother Judy can't shake the memory.
"There are no words to really explain what everyone went through, all I can say is that it was the worst day of my life," she told the Daily Telegraph newspaper recently.
"Andy was eight and his big brother, Jamie, nine. I had a shop at the time in the heart of Dunblane so I knew just about everyone involved, if only by sight and someone burst in to say there was a man found dead with a gun in the playground," she recalled.
"You couldn't get near the school, so I had to abandon the car and run to join the crowd of parents waiting at the front gates.
"It was hours later that Jamie and Andy finally appeared. I hugged them, bundled them into the car and explained everything as gently as I could."
Mrs Murray revealed that both her sons knew Hamilton well.
"Andy used to ask a lot of questions but, he's not comfortable discussing it now which is why, whenever he's entering a tournament, he usually lists his home town as Stirling rather than Dunblane, in case anyone makes the connection."
Despite the dramas of the past, Murray is determined to keep his mind on his career.
"It's great that I've been getting so much support here and hopefully it will continue for the rest of the week."
