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Dunblane massacre survivor who was shot twice and forced to hide in a cupboard reveals effects of the atrocity which has left her with a child's right foot, needing regular operations and in fear of balloons bursting

Aimie Adam was shot in the right buttock and right thigh on March 13, 1996
She was just five years old when Thomas Hamilton went on a rampage
Ms Adam was told by her wounded PE teacher to hide in a cupboard
Now 25, she revealed the effect the massacre still has on her everyday life

Published: 10:13 GMT, 6 March 2016 | Updated: 12:35 GMT, 7 March 2016

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A survivor of the Dublane massacre, who was shot twice, today broke her silence on the horrific incident and the everlasting effect it has had on her life.

Aimie Adam, 25, from Aberdeen, was just five years old when Thomas Hamilton went on a shooting rampage at Dunblane Primary School - killing 16 pupils and one teacher.

The mental health nursing student at Robert Gordon University was one of only 12 survivors, but was one of the most seriously injured.

She was shot twice - in the right buttock and right thigh - before her PE teacher Eileen Harrild told her to crawl into a gym cupboard. It was there the schoolgirl blacked out.

Ms Adam had surgery to remove a bullet from her thigh and during the operation surgeons found a second bullet which had entered near her groin and lodged at the bottom of her back.

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Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid comforts Aimie Adam after she retold her story about the Dunblane Massacre

Ms Adam (pictured) completely blanks out the incident from her life as much as possible

The Primary One class at Dunblane Primary School, pictured with teacher Gwenne Mayor, who was killed with 16 of the children. Circled in red is Aimie Adam, aged five

Aimie Adam had to wipe away the tears during her interview on Good Morning Britain today

As the 20-year anniversary of Britain's worst gun attack looms, Ms Adam revealed:

She lives in fear of Champagne bottles popping, balloons bursting and fireworks;
The shots gave her nerve damage and no feeling or movement in her right leg from the knee down;
Her right foot has not grown and she walks with a drop foot;
Out of the 20 years, she has never gone longer than three years without an operation;
And she hates Thomas Hamilton, but also feels sorry for him and has chosen to study mental health nursing to understand why he went on the gun rampage

In a tearful interview with Good Morning Britain today, she said: 'I have no movement in my right leg from the knee down or feeling. It damaged the sciatic nerve – the bullet in my spine did that.

'I had nerve damage and my foot hasn’t really grown since the accident so it’s smaller that my other one.

'I just feel like it’s (the massacre) part of my life so it feels like the normality to me. I suppose it’s quite a surreal thing to have happened to you.

'I feel bad for him (Hamilton) that his life was so terrible that he had to ruin other people’s lives. I hate him but he’s gone and he can’t ruin anybody else’s life.

'I just can’t let something like that beat me because if I did I wouldn’t be the person I am. It sort of made me who I am.

'It's definitely one of the reasons I did choose to do it (mental health nursing). I want to know why people do these things and what they were thinking.'

After this morning's TV interview pictures emerged of Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid comforting Ms Adam, who was caught up with her emotions.

Aimie Adam speaks to MailOnline editor-at-large Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on Good Morning Britain

Ms Adam still lives in fear of Champagne bottle popping, balloons bursting and fireworks

Aimie Adam, 25, from Aberdeen, was just five years old when Thomas Hamilton went on a shooting rampage at Dunblane Primary School - killing 16 pupils and one teacher

Thomas Hamilton walked into Dunblane Primary School in Scotland and shot 16 children and their teacher dead before turning the gun on himself

Dunblane survivor Aimie Adam (centre) with Good Morning Britain presenters Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan

Yesterday, she told The Sun: 'The only thing that gets me tearful is bottles of champagne or prosecco popping. Balloons are fireworks are a big fear and party poppers as well. I really don't like those. I get scared, have a little cry and then I sort myself out.'

Ms Adam completely blanks out the incident from her life as much as possible.

She has never read any of the newspaper articles written at the time and tells strangers that her limp was due to an 'accident'.

On March 13, 1996, shortly after 9.30am, a gunman burst through the gym doors at Dunblane Primary School and fired off 105 shots in quick succession from two handguns.

In the space of three minutes, Hamilton, a 43-year-old loner who bore a grudge against society, shot dead 16 Primary One pupils and their teacher, Gwen Mayor, before turning the gun on himself.

To date, it remains the deadliest firearms atrocity in the UK. Scottish tennis stars Andy and Jamie Murray also survived the attack.

Aimie Adam, a survivor of the Dublane massacre, who was shot twice, today broke her silence on the horrific incident which has left her in fear of Champagne bottles popping, balloons bursting and fireworks

A police officer lays flowers at the gates of the school, pictured, after a vigil at the town's cathedral

A mother comforts her children, pictured, outside Dunblane Primary School in the days after the shooting

Floral tributes, pictured, left at the primary school in memory of the children who lost their lives

Ms Adam believes it's a godsend that she can't remember much of the actual incident.

She recalled laying beside her teacher Mrs Harrild, who had been shot in the arm and chest.

Ms Adam said: 'She told me to crawl into the gym cupboard. I don't remember but I must have made it. Nursery teachers were running in and shouting for paper towels, then I must have lost consciousness as that's all I remember.

'I can't remember him (Hamilton) walking into the room, I can't remember anything about him. I wasn't aware he'd shot himself. I had no idea what was going on. You're five years old — you're not supposed to be exposed to that sort of stuff.'

At the age of 12, she moved to Aberdeen to begin a new life with her legal guardian

Ms Adam was taken to Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Sick Children and put in intensive care. During her three weeks in hospital, she underwent many operations.

She had to be home-schooled for a spell after her release and could only move about in a wheelchair.

At the age of 12, she moved to Aberdeen to begin a new life with her legal guardian.

In the wake of the shootings, amid huge public pressure, a desire emerged for some small good to emerge from such a heinous act.

In response to the parents of Dunblane, the Government introduced the 1997 amendment to the Firearms Act that effectively banned ownership of handguns.

Ron Taylor, pictured, former headmaster of Dunblane Primary School, tried in vain to save the lives of pupils

Alison Ross, pictured, was only four months old when her sister Joanna, seen in the photo, was gunned down

In a BBC documentary to mark the anniversary, former head teacher Ron Taylor, 63, described how he is still consumed with guilt by the tragedy.

'It was unimaginably horrible to see children dying in front of you. I felt enormous guilt - more than a survivor's guilt. It was my school, I felt violated,' he said.

'As a headteacher what happened to me that day was the worst experience any headteacher could have. People have to cope in their own way.

'One of the things I have at home is a box full of newspaper articles.

'And it includes my own written version of the events of the day and I did that to help. I locked it away and thankfully I have never looked at it again.'

DUNBLANE MASSACRE AMBULANCE CHIEF STILL HAUNTED BY ATROCITY

The ambulance chief who co-ordinated the response to the Dunblane massacre says he's still haunted by the 1996 atrocity.

John McEwan, 69, quit the Scottish Ambulance Service three years later, scarred forever by what he saw after 16 children and their teacher were gunned down.

He was speaking as the 20th anniversary approaches.

'I'll never forget seeing distraught parents sprinting across the school grounds to find out if their kids were dead or alive and the relief mixed with guilt on their faces of those whose were safe,' he said.

Everything after Dunblane just seemed too 'trivial' to him in comparison with the horrors he had witnessed, he said, and his heart was no longer in the job.

He can remember the immediate aftermath of the event like it was yesterday, along with the eerie silence as the children were in too much shock to make a sound.

'I was so angry that someone could do this,' he added.

'But I had to stay focused and we all kind of went into autopilot to do what needed to be done.

'Even those just hearing the dispatches in control rooms were terribly distressed and those who weren't there felt guilty.'

Next weekend marks two decades since Hamilton's murder spree in the school.

The devastating day left 16 pupils dead along with teacher Gwenne Mayor, who was shot trying to protect the youngsters.

The events contributed to anguished John leaving the Scottish Ambulance Service three years later.

'I never functioned as well afterwards,' he said. 'I had no patience for the administrative side of the job because it all seemed so trivial. I just couldn't do it any more.'

John saw so much death in his 22-year career, including leading rescue efforts at the Lockerbie bombing, that he was asked to lecture at several universities - but said his experiences took their toll.

'Disasters seemed to follow me around,' he said.

'You only have so much petrol in the tank and when the only people you see are bleeding, sick and dying, the cumulative stress eventually brings you to the end of your tether.'

The attack inspired him to work with people suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and he later opened a hypnotherapy clinic with wife Kate to help those like the Dunblane survivors.

Former Dunblane pupil Steven Hopper was 11 when Hamilton turned his guns on his classroom next door to the gym.

For what seemed like hours, Steven huddled on the floor fearing he and his friends would be the next to be targeted.

'I was thinking about how I could escape if he came in, choosing between the main door and the fire escape,' he said.

'After someone told us it was over I started worrying about my friends and eight-year-old brother Andrew because I didn't know who was in the gym at the time.

'It was two hours before Andrew and my dad came to get me and I knew he was all right.'

Steven, 31, who still lives in Dunblane with his brother and works at a nursery, played football for Hamilton in the years before the massacre and remembers him as an inflexible, authoritarian coach, but he never thought he was a killer.

'He used to make us run around without shirts on which looking back was strange, but as kids we didn't know his history.

'I guess you don't often notice these things until it's too late,' he said.