A WOMAN who survived the London 7/7 bombing has been forced to quit her home in Scotland after revealing she was stalked by a man
Folk singer Elena Piras, who was born blind, suffered hearing damage from one of the suicide blasts, which occurred as she left an underground station near to the scene.
She moved to Lerwick after the tragedy to find some peace as her health problems worsened.
It was while working as an extra on the BBC TV crime series Shetland two years ago that she met the man who she claimed became 'fixated' with her.
Speaking as ceremonies take place in the UK capital to remember the 52 victims of the terrorist attack ten years on, Ms Piras said: "I have left Scotland now. I have had to deal with a stalker who I still haven't got rid of completely. Few people know where I am.
"Well what can one do? Sometimes it isn't easy to be an artist and it is even more difficult to stop people from knowing where I am."
Ms Piras said it after she had been working on a location shoot, in which she was filmed on a beach playing a guitar that she met her stalker.
She added: "I met someone after that and he appeared to have a fixation about me.
"He e-mailed me a number of times and kept contacting me although I asked him to stop. It was frightening and so I contacted the police and reported it.
"I then decided to leave Shetland to get away from it all. I am in a different place now and I don't want this person to know where I am. That is difficult though because as an artist I have to have a website where I make contacts for work."
Ms Piras, who will not say where she now lives admitted it was causing her difficulties still as she needs to advertise her work via the internet.
Ten years ago she was leaving an Underground station, having travelled via Kings Cross to reach Shepherd's Bush when four Islamists detonated four bombs within minutes of each other on three trains and on a double decker bus in Tavistock Square.
In addition to the victims, more than 700 people were injured in the UK's worst attack, and first suicide mission, since the Lockerbie bombing in 1988.
Ms Piras, who was born blind on Sardinia and lived in north London at the time, had been travelling to attend a trial at an agency which helps disabled people find work when bomb nearest her went off.
She said: "Unfortunately I heard the bomb explode while I was making my way out of the station.
"A few minutes before the staff had asked us all to leave the station. The thing I noticed was the eerie silence that followed the explosion. I don't remember what happened afterwards but somehow I ended up in a big office in Baker Street.
"The people there were very kind. They made me a cup of tea and allowed me to use the telephone. I got home in a taxi, which was paid for by the company in that office."
Ms Piras soon noticed that her hearing had been affected, in particular she became irritated by traffic noise.
She added: "The noise of traffic really irritated me and I found I had difficulty harmonising with other singers.
"I couldn't hear what people were saying at social gatherings, like dinner parties. I had to have specialist treatment because being blind I use my ears for other things apart from hearing. They help me to know where I am."
Six months later she moved to Edinburgh, where she voluntary job as a prospective research assistant at the Royal Scottish Academy, adding it gave her the 'excuse' to leave the UK capital.
She later moved to Glasgow, where she found the noise too much, before moving to Pitlochry where she released her debut album 'Journey.'
She took part in charity walks and concerts, including one in Glasgow City Chambers with jazz singer Carol Kidd, to raise funds for the charity Mary's Meals.
Ms Piras left Pitlochry for Lerwick where, along with her singing performances, she was working on her own material and writing arrangements for old traditional songs.
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