The Immediate Aftermath - 2. The Fans Response

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The reaction of the Liverpool fans to the Disaster can be summed up in one word - exemplary. Their response was by far the more normal one to a disaster i.e. they tried to help those most at need. Although most were ill- equipped to assist in first aid they did everything they could even though many of them had just escaped from the crush and were themselves injured. They helped fellow fans out of the crush, ferried the injured and dying across the pitch on make shift stretchers whilst pleading with the police for assistance. They had to run past police and break through a police cordon to get the injured to ambulances. These fans who acted so heroically were the same fans who would later be accused of breaking down the gate, rushing in and crushing their fellow fans to death. The same fans who would be accused of pick - pocketing from the dead and urinating on police officers who were 'attempting to save lives'.

There can be no greater testimony to the fans than that which comes from those whose lives they saved and the bereaved families who truly recognise their heroism. Many of the bereaved managed to trace fans who assisted in trying to save their loved ones and were afforded a high degree of comfort from knowing how they had tried to save their lives. Every time the lies re-emerge, hard as is it is the fans should close their ears to the lies and instead be comforted by the gratitude afforded to them by those who truly know what they did on that day.

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