Bali bombing anniversary: Forbes Rugby Club's celebration smashed

A member of the Forbes Rugby Club's end of season tour party, Acheson was enjoying all of the spoils of what was then a rite of passage for many young Australians who venture off to Bali.

Overseas trip - tick. Living it up with a group of mates from the Central West of NSW - tick. Quick dip in the hotel swimming pool - tick. Bintang singlet on, Bintang bottle in hand - tick, tick.

Paddy's Bar and the Sari Club were often the last boxes to tick on that checklist, and despite just about all of the Platypi boys being on their first foray overseas, the cold beers and mateship made the nightclubs in the tourist district of Kuta seem not too different from the rugby club at Grinstead Oval.

Then, as Acheson puts it, "chaos, sheer chaos".

At 11.08pm a suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) on the ground floor of Paddy's Bar.

Just 15 seconds later, a van laden with 1.2 tonnes of explosives was detonated outside the Sari Club. It was only 40 metres up the road from Paddy's.

There were around 350 people inside the Sari Club and Acheson was one of them.

The explosions killed 202 people from 22 countries, including 88 Australians. The youngest Australian to die was just 13 years old.

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A further 209 people were left wounded and at least 66 of those people were flown to Darwin for treatment.

The attacks represent the single largest loss of Australian life due to an act of terror.

And while two decades has passed and the scars, both physically and emotionally, remain, the 20th anniversary of that day will be, for Acheson and many in the Forbes community, about love, remembrance and an unbreakable country spirit, not hate.

The Forbes boys landed at Bali on October 12 and on their first night went into the heart of Kuta to let their hair down.

Acheson remembers it being extremely humid, and after attempting to haggle down the price of a shirt, he eventually settled on a Bintang singlet. That was his "going out outfit".

The group was drawn to the Sari Club. Whoever was running it at the time clearly knew their market.

With Australian 80s and 90s music blaring over the three-metre high walls that wrapped around the bar, it didn't take long for the group to work its way inside and enjoy "a great time on the jungle juice".

Acheson's recollection places the group at the club for about an hour before hearing the first bomb go off down the road at the Paddy's Bar.

"I didn't think much of it at the time. I just thought someone had let off a fire cracker. I remember the drink's waiter jumped and everyone looked around ... and I thought 'what's the big fuss'," he said.

It didn't take long for the fuss to become very real.

On the dance floor in virtually the centre of the Sari Club, patrons of the venue were soon floored by what was the "loudest noise you could ever imagine".

The second bomb, in a van outside the Sari Club, had gone off.

"The force of it, it just crunched you," Acheson said. "I could feel the flames rolling towards me. I remember being crunched by it and trying to process what had just happened.

"All I could think of was someone let a firecracker off in my face and I was the only one hurt. I remember having my eyes shut and just screaming, I was so tense.

"I passed out for a while and then I remember coming to and a voice saying 'get out, get out ... we've got to get out'.

"I had a bamboo structure on top of me and pushed that off and tried to get my bearings. It was dark, dusty and the fire was starting ... it was chaos, sheer chaos. I just remember thinking 'what do I do, where do I go'."

At this stage, the adrenaline lifted Acheson off the floor, and eventually over a nearby wall - despite his arm being in excruciating pain.

He later tells the story of how one of his mates caught him coming down off the wall, only to have a handful of skin fall off Acheson's leg. Such was the heat of the blaze, his skin was melting off.

He remembers meeting up with a few of his teammates on the street soon after. But that wasn't for long.

"They said to wait. I didn't know what was wrong with me, but I just thought ... 'I've got to go to hospital'. That was when I jumped up and wandered off. I didn't know where I was going but I was wandering," he said.

"I went down the street and, luckily for me, Matty Grant came with me. Without him I don't know where I would have ended up. Without him coming with me, the guidance he gave me, he saved my life."

Pandemonium. That's basically how Acheson remembers it.

He tried to get help from one of the hospitals in Bali, but it was already overrun and with a wave of panic sweeping over the area it was understandably chaotic.

The pair had luck finding an army hospital, and it was there his right arm - later found to have been broken in 18 places, as well as suffering from a compound fracture - was wrapped up with a bandage and two sticks.

He was in pure agony.

The pain was really kicking in. I remember waiting in a hallway. Two sticks and some bandage around my arm, and the boys had my arm up. But they'd get tired and sort of fall asleep and my arm would drop and I'd scream then someone else would come and have a turn."

He woke up the next day with a cast on. But that was soon cut off as the extent of his burns were revealed. The swelling made life difficult with a plaster cast on. Almost 20 per cent of Acheson's body was suffering from third degree burns. Both of his ear drums were completely blown, too.

He had one night in a hospital and then was transported to the airport. It was there the enormity of the situation dawned on Acheson.

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"There were hundreds of people. String-lines of IV drips, everyone stretchered out on the tarmac. That was a pivotal moment for me," he said.

"I guess it was the time I thought I was going home to Australian care and I thought I was going to be alright, but also being there and just, some of the gut-wrenching sounds ... you could hear people dying.

"It was really extreme. A sense of relief, but the gravity of the situation hit me; so many had lost their lives or were in immense pain."

He flew home on a stretcher inside a Hercules and landed in Darwin, before being transported to Sydney.

It wasn't until Acheson had endured several operations and was back in Sydney, at Royal North Shore Hospital, that he realised three of his best mates - Paul Cronin, Brad Ridley and Greg Sanderson - didn't make it home from Bali.

The three Platypi players were among the 88 Australians who lost their lives as a result of the bombings.

There's a plaque in Forbes that remembers the trio. It reads 'Never Forgotten'.

A memorial for 'Sando', as he was better known as, was being held in Forbes soon after the bombings and Acheson said he had to get home to be there for it.

"I just wanted to get back to that environment. To remember them, and show my support," he remembers.

"The way the community rallied ... it was immense. No one had been through anything like that before, and everyone just wanted to do as much as they could."

He believes being part of that small-town, country community made the who grieving process a little easier. He revealed being part of a touring group of 25 ensured there was always others to lean on, others who'd been through the entire experience with him. That bond will "be there for the rest of our lives".

None of that means there wasn't dark days though.

"There was a period there where I was so resentful, so bitter to the bombers ... to life in general. 'Why me?', I remember thinking a lot. I was in my early 20s and thought I was 10 foot tall and bullet proof," Acheson said.

"Selfishly, I'd look at my burns or catch a glimpse of them in the mirror and I hated it. It really riled me up. As time went on, I appreciated more of what I have rather than what I lost.

"I guess I look back now and I'm grateful I'm still here. That I'm still waking up and can hug my kids and there's so much in my life so many others haven't gotten. I got that second chance that 88 Australians didn't get."

Incredibly, despite 25 members of the club swept up in the devastation of the 2002 Bali Bombings, the Platypi would go on to win the 2003 Blowes Clothing Cup in their local comp and immortalise the memory of their great mates - 'Sando', 'Croie' and 'Rids'.

The grand final was in Forbes and many of the boys were part of that historic 31-28 victory over the Bathurst Bulldogs on grand final day.

The game was at Forbes, and Acheson, although unable to play due to his injuries, said he'd never seen anything like it.

"It was wall-to-wall people and it was 10-deep. Everyone wanted to be part of it. It was a special occasion and galvanised the community," he said.

"Getting close to 12 months on at the time, there was still a lot of hurt, lot of pain, but the game served as an opportunity to release that and immortalise that year."

"Where'd that time go".

During the time with Acheson this week, the Bali bombings was referred to as one of those moments in time where everyone remembers where they were when it happened.

Acheson joked he remembers he was "at the Sari Club", before having a bit of a laugh. It's clear time can heal some wounds.

Now 46 and having lived in Orange in the NSW Central West for more than a decade, he's comfortable to talk about his experience from two decades ago. He also understands some may not be. Time heals some wounds. Not all.

"If my story can help others through a similar situation, I'm happy to talk about my experience."

He's been back to Bali to pay his respects to his three mates, and the other 85 Australians, who weren't afforded that second chance. He says he didn't get the opportunity to say goodbye to his mates, and heading back to Bali was his shot to do just that - say goodbye.

It was an emotional experience. One of many over the last 20 years, no doubt. And Wednesday, October 12, 2022 will be another.

"It will be incredibly emotional. Incredibly nostalgic," Acheson said looking ahead to this week's anniversary.

Going to a grave site and visiting friends, it's always challenging. But it's about never forgetting, and holding them and their families close to our hearts."

He said the 2022 anniversary will mark one of the biggest commemorations of the bombings in Forbes.

There will be a community memorial in the morning, before lunch at the rugby club. The scene of that 2003 victory.

He'll take his family this year, as will a lot of the other members of that end-of-season touring party.

Acheson knows it'll be then he'll get a real sense of how lucky he really is.

"I'm so grateful for our way of life," he said, his message clearly one of hope and love, rather than animosity.

"This is my journey, not everyone is the same. But so many people see the bombers being let out of jail and there's a lot of anger there.

"I get that, but that for me doesn't change my life. It's about giving and sharing love. Hate is an emotion that will eat you up. It won't serve you. Be grateful for the opportunity to get the best version of yourself you can be and share love."