Eamonn Holmes relived his horror on Thursday’s This Morning, revealing his fears for his wife, Ruth Langsford, in the aftermath of the London terror attack on Westminster Bridge. The presenter told Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby that his wife normally crosses over the bridge on her way home from the Loose Women studios, around the same time as the shocking incident took place, but had avoided it by a "freaky chance." Speaking live from Westminster, where he was reporting on the latest from the scene of the attack, Eamonn said: "Yesterday, I was speaking to my wife Ruth who had just finished on Loose Women and she said, ‘I’m just heading home now.’ Her normal route home would be within three minutes to this bridge and across there and when the news broke later – because it took 10, 15 minutes for the news to come out – I thought ‘Where’s Ruth?’ I couldn’t get in touch with her.” Eamonn then added, “It turned out amazingly she went in a different direction, it was just some freaky chance she went in a 'different direction.'”
Eamonn feared that his wife, Ruth, was caught up in the horror on Westminster Bridge
Earlier on This Morning, which was largely dedicated to relaying the horrific events from the previous day, Phillip spoke passionately to viewers about the importance of carrying on with their lives and not letting fear win. Speaking to the nation at the beginning of the programme, he said: “We are not afraid. It was a scene of tragedy, but among the harrowing images are heroes,” he said. “PC Keith Palmer, who lost his life while trying to protect our democracy. The doctors and nurses who ran towards the carnage to help. And the kindness of the passers by. They are the Britain we love, the country we know – the spirit that one man tried to destroy.”
STORY: The Queen releases statement following Westminster attack
The show also saw Phillip and his co-presenter, Holly Willoughby, interview Tony Davis, a former soldier who performed CPR on PC Keith Palmer, one of the victims of the terror attack who sadly lost his life as a result of his injuries. The heroic man told the hosts how he had tried to save the life of the married father, saying: "Initially when he fell to the ground, I put him in the recovery position, checked his pulse, he had a weak pulse, he had an initial head wound and another in his arm and another near his rib cage, that I believe was the fatal one. I put my raincoat underneath and tried to stem the blood as much as I could."
Holly then broke down in tears as she questioned the brave man about the horrific incident, asking him: "You're not a paramedic, you're not trained for this… How can you process that in your head?" Tony said: "Maybe tomorrow it'll sink in a bit. I stayed at the scene... everyone just came together. A great show of solidarity." One of Keith's former colleagues Nina Whitehead also appeared on the show to pay tribute to him. She said: "I was the passenger and he was one of the police officers who actually saved my life. I owe him everything. He was a wonderful dad, and wonderful husband to his wife and everything."