U.S. BLU-97 cluster bomblet in wheat field in Iraq, 2004
MCC photo by Titus Peachey

Chicago Public Radio (WBEZ) interview with Titus Peachey on cluster munitions, December 5, 2011

My name is Thoummy. I would like to tell you a little bit about my story. I had an accident in 1996, when I was 8 years old. I went to collect bamboo after school, alone, with a spade in my hand. When I was digging for bamboo shoots, I heard my spade hit metal.

Before I knew what it was, I was already blown away. The blast was so loud that villagers at nearby rice fields came to see me immediately. They carried me home in an old sarong. My parents were very upset. They took me in a tuk tuk to the district hospital.

From there, I had to be transferred, because my injuries were so serious. Because I lived so far from the hospital, it took a long time before I was treated. I was unconscious the whole time.

I woke up the next day to find that I had lost my left hand. The shock sent me back into unconsciousness for another day. I stayed in the hospital for two months. After I left the hospital, it took a very long time to recover, not only physically but also mentally.

Thoummy Silamphan, November 9, 2010, Vientiane, Lao PDR,  Excerpted from speech to the 1st Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Click here for more of Thoummy's story and the stories of other cluster bomb survivors.