Ireland Correspondent Mark Devenport: Long struggle ahead for Tracey

Tracey Devine, 27, suffered severe burns and was given only a 30% chance of survival. It was a bittersweet moment because her 20-month-old daughter Breda was among the victims of the bombing last August.

Tracey Devine: "It's been a long hard struggle"

She had been shopping in Omagh to buy Breda shoes for her brother's wedding when the explosion ripped the town centre apart, killing 29 people in Northern Ireland's worst bombing atrocity.

Mrs Devine was in a coma for six weeks, unaware that her daughter was dead - until she came round and her husband broke the news to her.

"It took a while to sink in. I though I was dreaming, it was going in and out all the time, but eventually it did sink in," she said.

Now after months in intensive care and hours of painful physiotherapy she is determined to give her three other children as good a Christmas as possible.

"It's been a long, hard struggle but I have got over the worst of it now," she said. "It's just a matter of time now. I'll get there eventually."

She added: "They know Breda won't be coming back, but they're glad they're going to get their mummy back for Christmas. It's really good to be going home."

Doctors say Mrs Devine must undergo further more plastic surgery and physiotherapy.

No forgiveness

Her brother Gary and his fiancée Donna Marie were also badly injured in the bombing. The Real IRA later claimed responsibility for the attack and apologised soon after.

But Mrs Devine said she could never forgive those responsible for the bombing and wants to see them punished.