Bataclan Survivor Slams Singer's 'Islamophobia'

A survivor of the Bataclan massacre in Paris has hit out at Eagles of Death Metal singer Jesse Hughes.

It comes after the US musician claimed in an interview he saw "Muslims celebrating in the street during the attack" and spotted "terrorists" in the concert hall before the band's fateful 13 November show.

Katie Healy has penned an open letter to Hughes:

The hair raises on my skin when I realise that I was in the Bataclan with my now fiancé, David.

We were standing mere feet from the door the terrorists entered.

I now find it upsetting and unnecessary that you, the lead singer of Eagles of Death Metal, have caused more hurt and suffering with your most recent interview concerning Paris.

I am hurt and confused by your claims. Your open Islamophobia and incitement of hatred is inexcusable - what happened to "peace, love, death metal"?

When you speak, the world listens. There's a morbid fascination with the terror of it all and your words carry weight.

I can empathise with your trauma. I too lived through the most unimaginable evil - thanks to the bravery of my fiancé who shielded me with his body. Sometimes survivor's guilt kicks in and the pain is indescribable.

I saw the terrorists burst in, I will never forget seeing the outline of a man spraying the crowd with bullets indiscriminately.

The flashes of light, the deafening sound, the immediate taste of blood in my mouth and the smell like a thousand fireworks exploding under my nose.

People's lives stolen from them in seconds. Bodies of the dead and injured hit the floor before the screams began.

We didn't fall before the terrorists like Gods as You claimed. We were locked in and gunned down.

I remember lying on the blood-soaked floor, keeping eye contact with a man who was dying.

I wanted him to see my face and focus on that - I didn't want him to see what surrounded us.

I was constantly telling David to stay calm, I kept telling him that I loved him. We needed to look dead. We could not move.

We weren't surrendering to death - we were trying to survive. We fought for our lives like so many others - we just got lucky.

You didn't need to be a gun aficionado to understand what was happening - it was very apparent.

Had members of crowd been armed, the notion that only the "bad guys" would have been killed, to me, is ludicrous.

People were frenzied. It strikes fear into my heart to think of the potential further loss of life.

Your misguided words were ignorant, incited hate and dismissed survivors and appallingly disrespected those who died. I see it as a cry for help and intervention.

My fiancé was shot protecting me and luckily he survived. He copes with constant pain and the inability to live an active life. Our lives have been changed irrevocably.

We know we are the lucky ones.

We will never forget that night but we will not allow anger cloud our judgement and turn us into hate-filled people.

Where there is life, there is hope and I will never lose sight of that.

I no longer support you, I disagree with your beliefs wholeheartedly but I wish you well

Warm regards,

Katie Healy