Kilo
07-12-2007, 10:32 AM
http://www.youtube.com/v/cehxP64y9z4
John Smeaton (b. 1975 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975)/76) is a baggage handler (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baggage_handler) at Glasgow International Airport (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_International_Airport). He became involved in thwarting a would-be terrorist attack on the airport (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Glasgow_International_Airport_Attack).
Following the attack, Smeaton gave television interviews to the BBC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC), ITV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITV) and CNN (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNN) which were broadcast worldwide.
There were numerous heroes on that day, but Smeaton's energy and personality given in his interviews as well as his behaviour and attitude towards the attack seem to have reflected that of most people from Glasgow and around the world and as a result he has gained a fanbase of admirers.
After he saw the police grappling with one of the attackers, he thought:
“ You're nae hitting the Polis mate, there's nae chance.”
Describing his own actions:
“ So I ran straight towards the guy, we're all trying to get a kick-in at him, take a boot to subdue the guy.”
Asked by ITV News (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITV_News) what his message to terrorists was, he said:
“ Glasgow doesn't accept this. That's just Glasgow; we'll set about ye.”
A tribute website was set up in Smeaton's honour, which made him an overnight Internet phenomenon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_phenomenon), receiving 500,000 hits (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hit_%28internet%29) in its first 48 hours.
The website urges visitors to buy a pint of beer for him; over 1000 pints were donated within two days.
http://www.johnsmeaton.com (http://www.johnsmeaton.com/)
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smeaton_%28baggage_handler%29#_note-1
John Smeaton (b. 1975 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975)/76) is a baggage handler (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baggage_handler) at Glasgow International Airport (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_International_Airport). He became involved in thwarting a would-be terrorist attack on the airport (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Glasgow_International_Airport_Attack).
Following the attack, Smeaton gave television interviews to the BBC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC), ITV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITV) and CNN (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNN) which were broadcast worldwide.
There were numerous heroes on that day, but Smeaton's energy and personality given in his interviews as well as his behaviour and attitude towards the attack seem to have reflected that of most people from Glasgow and around the world and as a result he has gained a fanbase of admirers.
After he saw the police grappling with one of the attackers, he thought:
“ You're nae hitting the Polis mate, there's nae chance.”
Describing his own actions:
“ So I ran straight towards the guy, we're all trying to get a kick-in at him, take a boot to subdue the guy.”
Asked by ITV News (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITV_News) what his message to terrorists was, he said:
“ Glasgow doesn't accept this. That's just Glasgow; we'll set about ye.”
A tribute website was set up in Smeaton's honour, which made him an overnight Internet phenomenon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_phenomenon), receiving 500,000 hits (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hit_%28internet%29) in its first 48 hours.
The website urges visitors to buy a pint of beer for him; over 1000 pints were donated within two days.
http://www.johnsmeaton.com (http://www.johnsmeaton.com/)
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Smeaton_%28baggage_handler%29#_note-1