BANGOR, Maine — Cathrine Westbey believes that the only reason she survived Friday’s attack on the government headquarters building in Oslo, Norway, was that she was bent over reaching for her bag when the powerful bomb blast ripped through, shattering every window of the 12-story structure.
“I was just getting ready to leave and I think that’s why I’m still OK,” Westbey said in a telephone interview six hours after the bombing. Because she wasn’t standing, the injuries she received in the blast were limited to cuts on her back, some of which required stitches.
Had she been standing, she said, the flying shards of glass would have hit her full on, likely killing her.
“I was lucky,” she said, choking back tears.
Among those who worried about Westbey after learning of Friday’s bombing was Kathy Lena of Orono.
Westbey, a former foreign exchange student, lived with Lena, her husband, Mark, and their children during her senior year of high school. She became close friends with the Lenas’ daughter Meghan Lena.
Kathy Lena said Westbey, now 25, graduated from John Bapst Memorial High School in 2004 and since has earned a law degree in Norway.
Westbey said Friday that her part-time position as a government lawyer was her first “real job.” Given the severe damage to her workplace, she said it wasn’t yet clear when she and her colleagues will return to work.
Last month, Lena said, Westbey brought her boyfriend, Christian Weise Hagrim, to Maine to meet her former host family and to show him New York City and Boston. While in Maine, the young couple spent time at Acadia National Park, Lena said.
Lena said she was relieved Friday to receive a text message from Westbey’s boyfriend letting her know Westbey had survived. It read: “She is fine now. Luck was on her side today. We are at Cath’s parents’ house and will stay here for the night. All is well. Say hi to Mark.”
Though Westbey said she was not completely surprised that a government building was targeted for an attack, she was taken aback by the devastation.
“It was horrible,” she said. “This is not supposed to happen here — this is Norway.”
“I haven’t heard from some of my coworkers,” Westbey said. “I’m worried.”
As horrific as the losses were, she said, the death toll would have been much higher had the bombing taken place at an earlier time of day or during a different season.
When the explosions hit about 3:15 p.m. in Norway, most workers had left for the day. She said that many employees who otherwise would have been at work that day were off on summer vacations.