world news  Beslan remembered  Primary school teacher Marina
Mikhailova survived the Beslan school siege that began on
September 1, 2004, but lost her father in the attack. She
describes the experience of being held hostage by terrorists and
her recovery from injury Beslan anniversary A soft toy lies amid
flowers in the burned-out gymnasium of Beslan's School No. 1.
Photograph: Eduard Korniyenko/Reuters  I was very badly wounded.
I had two gunshot wounds and the bone was broken. In the early
stages when I got into hospital, they wanted to amputate my leg.
The bone had ruptured an artery under my knee and I lost a lot
of blood. I was taken to a hospital in Vladikavkaz where I met a
wonderful doctor, Chermet Baskaev, who had the resolve to
operate on my leg. He sewed in an implant for the broken artery,
which was a very complex procedure, but it was successful.
However, the bones were not fixed in place. I was in a very bad
condition so they decided to take me to Moscow where many
doctors helped me. I was fitt