Bali bomb survivor Hanabeth Luke has revealed the actress playing her in the upcoming Stan series, Bali 2002, reached out to her for advice.
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Australian actress Saskia Archer will play the role of Hanabeth in the upcoming series, which will go to air on September 25.
Ms Luke now lives at Evans Head in northern NSW and lectures at Southern Cross University. She also ran as an independent for the seat of Page at the last federal election.
She became known as the 'Angel of Bali' after miraculously surviving the blast that killed hundreds of people at the Sari nightclub.
Ms Luke was just a young British backpacker enjoying a night out with friends when the bomb went off.
Unfortunately, her boyfriend at the time, Marc Gajardo was killed in the blast and Hanabeth was famously photographed helping another man out of the burning ruins of the club which earned her the 'angel' title.
She hopes the upcoming Stan series will be a true and accurate depiction of events that took place and she said it would be a timely reminder of the day "Australia lost its innocence".
"Saskia was very respectful and rang me just get to know me a little," Ms Luke revealed.
"I was happy to do that and I hope other characters did as much as possible.
"If they are going to put together something [about the Bali bombings] I would rather have the opportunity to have some input."
She also pointed producers to the self-published memoir she put out about 10 years ago as another reference point.
Like many she has only seen the trailer for Bali 2002, which also stars Richard Roxburgh and Rachel Griffiths.
"It is going to be very strange seeing someone acting as you," she said.
"But it seems like they are a committed group and I hope the producers deal with things as sensitively as possible."
Although she has been back to Bali many times since the attack, she rejected an offer by A Current Affair to be flown there and filmed for the 20th anniversary.
Instead, she will be in Coogee for the commemoration ceremony there.
She also has a special ritual of her own she likes to follow on the day.
To mark the occasion, she likes to paddle out on a surfboard that belonged to Marc Gajardo and "catch a wave or two".
She will also make sure she reaches out to the parents of Tom Singer, the man she was pictured helping out of the Sari Club.
They now live near Coffs Harbour.
And as some of the Bali bombers and conspirators come up for release she has an important message.
"Whether they show remorse or not, I hope all of those things are taken into account as they face parole," she said.
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I'm a media professional with over 34 years of experience in public relations and journalism, including a decade setting Lismore's news agenda as the editor of The Northern Star. I have proven track record in growing audiences and improving engagement by delivering quality local stories for and about the Lismore community.
I'm a media professional with over 34 years of experience in public relations and journalism, including a decade setting Lismore's news agenda as the editor of The Northern Star. I have proven track record in growing audiences and improving engagement by delivering quality local stories for and about the Lismore community.
