SUE Hanisch was just 32 when her leg was blown off in an IRA bomb blast.

During the past 19 years she has battled post-traumatic stress as she coped with the massive impact on her life.

But while most people would still feel extreme anger at her predictament, Sue, who was born in Whalley and brought up in Mellor, has forgiven the bombers.

She talks of understanding her attackers’ motivation, saying she could see how men in West Belfast ‘needed to do something dramatic to get people to listen’.

Sue says her forgiveness is ‘absolute’. Her story is featured in a thought-provoking exhibition at Blackburn Cathedral, called the F-word. It looks at stories of forgiveness and the healing process through examples in South Africa, Israel, Palestine, Northern Ireland and England.

Perhaps it is an exhibition many of us could do with visiting amid the bitterness that can exist in society.

In an era when two Premiership footballers can’t shake hands because of a personal matter, Sue’s bravery shines like a beacon.

Canon Chris Chivers says Sue’s resiliance and humour were typical of people who have overcome terrible suffering and learned to forgive.

Her bravery should be a lesson to us all.