LAGUNA BEACH : Oklahoma City Bomb Survivor Plans Visit

When Oklahoma City bombing victim Daina Bradley visits the city Dec. 4 to thank those who have helped her, Laguna Beach High School will be her stage to speak to the community.

Bradley and members of her family were in the Oklahoma City federal building on April 19 when a bomb exploded, killing 168 people, including Bradley’s two children and her mother.

To free Bradley from the debris, rescuers had to amputate her right leg.

Laguna Beach resident Donna Jackson, a native of Oklahoma, responded to the tragedy by starting a trust fund to help buy a prosthesis for Bradley, 21.

About $22,000 has been raised so far, Jackson said.

Jackson said Bradley wanted to visit Laguna Beach to thank those who have helped her.

“She’s very anxious to talk to the kids too, to go to the high school,” Jackson said, in light of fact that the students survived their own disaster, the 1993 firestorm.

“She just feels like there’s a lot of connectedness.”

Bradley will speak at the student assembly at 10 a.m. Dec. 4. A reception in her honor will begin at 6:30 p.m.

Susan Mas, a trustee of the Laguna Beach Unified School District, said high school students helped plan the public reception, including sending invitations to about 350 people from across Orange County who contributed to help Bradley.

Bradley will arrive Thursday, in time to help light the Christmas tree during the annual Hospitality Night celebration, the kick-off of the holiday season for local merchants.

“The whole city is honoring Daina,” Mas said.