Around 10 years ago Australian woman Gill Hicks lost both her legs in the 7/7 London Underground bombing.
Her throat and lungs were also damaged, and the Australian woman thought she would never have a chance to reignite her passion for singing.
“My throat was so badly injured; I have no eardrums, so I didn't know if I'd ever be able to sing again,” said Ms Hicks.
It took a conversation with Adelaide-based songwriter Gary Burrows for her to consider trying her voice out again.
He’d written a song with a message of peace - called ‘I Want To Tell You’ - and it resonated deeply with Ms Hicks.
“What I want to tell you is that humanity saved my life,” she said.
“And I don’t say that lightly, because on the morning of July 7 [2005], I didn’t have an identity. My arm bracelet just read: One unknown, estimated female.”
“I'd like to think my voice came back because it had a purpose. This message had a purpose.”
In the years after the London bombings, the double amputee has become a campaigner for global peace and ending violent terrorism.
The former jazz singer is a motivational speaker and in 2007 founded the not-for-profit charity Making a Difference (MAD) for Peace.
Ahead of the 10th anniversary of the 7/7 bombings, the song, and an accompanying hashtag campaign called #tellyou, was launched today at Sydney’s Central Station. The campaign is about encouraging conversation between people who have survived or witnessed violent action, even former extremists themselves.
“We’re appealing to people who know first-hand what it’s like to be a survivor, what it’s like to live through conflict, and indeed appealing to those who are former extremists, to come forward to tell us how they’ve turned their back on violent extremism,” she said.
“I'd like to think my voice came back because it had a purpose. This message had a purpose.”
Preventing terrorism 'not clear-cut'
Fifty-two people were killed in a series of coordinated bomb attacks in central London on July 7, 2005 during the morning peak hour. The attacks are often called the 7/7 bombings.
Ms Hicks says it saddens her that a decade on, people are still not any closer to understanding why terrorism is happening.
She says preventing terrorism is not as simple as stripping someone of their citizenship.
"Why do not only young people, but why do educated people get seduced by such a destructive ideology? How is that happening?" she asked in Sydney.
"For me that's the area of focus - prevention, prevention, prevention."
She says it's not as cut and dried as Prime Minister Tony Abbott's proposed legislation to strip dual nationals of their citizenship if they are suspected of terrorism.
That simply puts these people and their agenda on a pedestal, she said.
"For me it's just an absolute ego exercise playing to them," she said.
"We need to perhaps change the way we communicate and maybe think about this a bit smarter, which could just be a backhand comment of 'if you decide to leave, please leave your passport at the door. Bye'."
"And that's it, without making such a big deal and giving them any more platform in which to become martyrs on."
Ms Hicks doesn't underestimate the complexity of the issue.
She is also concerned that stateless terrorists may be encouraged to create their own state - potentially leading to further problems down the line.
Ms Hicks will return to London for the anniversary next month and reunite with her rescuers, who she still remains close friends with. One of them is her best friend.
-With AAP
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