The married couple is Todd and Barbara Bachman, of the floral and garden company Bachman’s in Minnesota, and they are quite prominent in the Twin Cities. Their daughter Elisabeth was with them and witnessed the attack, but wasn’t stabbed. She was on the 2004 Olympic Volleyball Team with Tom and is married to the head coach of the men’s volleyball team competing here in Beijing, Hugh McCutcheon.
The FBI, CIA and Secret Service have been involved since the beginning, and FBI was on the scene moments after it happened. However, we’ve heard from the U.S. Embassy that they’re not getting far with the investigation because Chinese authorities are providing little. I have heard that Mr. Bachman was attacked first. Mrs. Bachman and Elisabeth ran to help, Mrs. Bachman getting there first, and that’s why she was so severely injured. The attacker then jumped off the 130-foot balcony of the historical Drum Tower to his death. Elisabeth witnessed everything and tried to keep her parents alive. When she arrived at the hospital she was covered in blood.
The outpouring of support has been tremendous. Johnson & Johnson had their traveling physician onsite right away, and the White House sent President Bush’s personal physician. J&J along with McDonald’s have both made their corporate jets available to the families for any use they should request, so some family members are flying here in the coming days.
I just can’t imagine going through something so traumatic and devastating. The entire U.S. Olympic Team has been grieving, especially the men’s and women’s volleyball teams. The women’s team was told just five hours before their opening match and had sports psychologists on hand to help. Tom said it was just devastating, that meeting. They rallied to beat Japan that night, and they had a little time Sunday to try to cope.
From my side, it’s been a media circus. For the most part, the journalists have been respectful of the situation the family members and players have been through, and they have willingly cooperated with the information we’ve been ready and able to provide. We have not made any statements without approval and sign-off from Elisabeth and Hugh, who have been reading and editing what I write from the hospital based on what they’re comfortable with. My boss, Darryl, has been speaking on behalf of the USOC, and today was asked to speak on behalf of the family should the situation arise. When we break news, his office has had a constant line of reporters and cameramen outside waiting for their turn.
NBC has been especially cooperative. They had the names of the victims before Hugh and Elisabeth were comfortable releasing them. We had already been stalling for a few hours to give them time and to make it possible to contact family members in the states. NBC consented to our request and held the names until Hugh and Elisabeth were ready.
However, as the nature of any business, there are bad apples in the bunch. We have had some really pushy reporters insisting on speaking with Hugh or the athletes and demanding information before we’re ready to announce it. They don’t get what they want, but it’s kind of disgusting being surrounded by that.
We attended the men’s first game yesterday to assist with the media demand. The journalists hadn’t had the opportunity to speak with any players until the game, so they were frantic to gather something. I was asked to write a statement for the team, which they decided to read to the media before the game to quiet things down a bit. We pulled their Team Leader into the press conference room during warm-up and he was able to divert the pressure away from the players a bit by handling some questions after reading the statement.
A moment of silence before the game.
The men played Venezuela, a team they should have beaten easily, and they visibly struggled throughout. They pulled out the win in the fifth set. Hugh didn’t come to the game, and his absence – plus the shock and sadness of the situation – has certainly rattled the guys.
A few players did answer questions after the game. You should see the media scuffle when they’re all trying to crowd around one guy and get a good quote: cameramen backing up and hitting people in the head with their equipment, journalists standing on chairs to peer over the crowd, angry “shushes” flying around, it’s chaotic. Someone calmed it down eventually by securing a working microphone, but overall those scenes are just frantic regardless.
Interestingly, the media has been much more focused on the men’s team than the women’s, even though the ladies know the Bachmans much more personally. I’m actually relieved because that takes a lot of stress and strain off of Tom’s team as they prepare to battle Cuba today.
Right now I’m working on a thank you letter from Elisabeth and Hugh to all of the individuals and organizations that have offered their support, thoughts, prayers and assistance. It’s pretty emotional trying to get in the heads of people who have been through such a tragedy and to envision what they’d like to say. Hopefully I can do justice to what they’re thinking and going through at this time.
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