THE young German boy and his parents had been sitting on facing seats and the bomb that killed them was in the luggage rack above their heads, placed in the train by terrorists.

The man in the fourth seat was Sam Baker.

“Their young son spoke pretty good English, so we talked a bit,” recalled Baker.

“The next thing I know they were all dead.

“It is a miracle I’m here.

“I should have died on that journey.”

Baker was travelling around Peru with friends in 1986 when they boarded the carriage of a train bound for Machu Picchu – a train on which the Shining Path Maoist group had, just minutes before, planted a red rucksack full of explosives.

That he survived at all is remarkable: The explosion severed the main artery and vein in his left thigh and he almost bled to death.

He suffered brain damage, kidney failure, gangrene, a badly-mangled hand, hearing loss, and endured years of surgery.

Perhaps the most extraordinary part of Baker’s story, though, is that he is now making a name for himself as one of the most respected singer song-writers in contemporary folk music, using his live performances as a method of coming to terms with that life-changing moment in South America.

“After the bombing, for many years, there was a sense of isolation for me, like I was in some kind of fog,” said Baker. “For a long time I wanted to understand what had happened and what had happened to those I was sitting around and be able to write that in a way that made sense to me, so I could clear up that moment of chaos and fear.

“I went through a lot of bitterness and there was a lot of anger in me.

“I drank to forget and I fell into a horrible world of black thoughts.

“But those things are toxic and they can destroy you.

“But life is a great gift and I’d never have known the goodness of the world if that bomb hadn’t gone off.

“Before, I was a completely self-absorbed person, but now I see so many ordinary people who give so much in life through their acts of bravery.”

Although the Texas-based artist has written directly about his experiences, most of his new songs are about other lives. When I sing about someone else’s world, I think that probably came from those days of not being able to move because of my injuries.

“If you’re lying in intensive care, there is so much profound drama, it’s life and death.

“While I was in that place I think I absorbed a lot more than I can articulate.”

Baker added: “Everybody has been knocked back, and for the most part, you know what people do?

“They keep going, and the majority do it with grace, humour and a spirit of generosity.”

  • Sam Baker, Bury Met, November 16.

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