Testimony of Utoya Shooting Victim Viljar Hanssen (age 18) in the Trial of Anders Breivik

Viljar Hanssen (photo by Andrea Gjestvang)

Asne Seierstad, in her book One of Us: The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway, recounts the emotionally powerful testimony of 18-year-old Viljar Hanssen.  Hanssen was shot by Breivik.  He lay in a coma for six days in an Oslo hospital.  Doctors doubted whether he could survive.  But survive he did--and his testimony became one of the emotional highpoints of the trial.  He lost his best friend, he lost an eye, he suffered brain damage, and he lost his ability to ski, snowmobile and engage in many of the other activities he enjoyed in his native Troms County, in northern Norway.  As the testimony showed, however, Viljar managed to keep his sense of humor.  Readers who would like a more complete story of Viljar's life before and after Utoya, can find it in Seierstad's book, which gives special attention to the lives of some of Breivik's victims.

TESTIMONY

Prosecutor Inga Bejer Engh: Can you start by telling us what happened to you on Utoya?

Viljar Hanssen:   I was at the campsite. My little brother was asleep in the tent. I went to the meeting in the main building to find out what had happened in Oslo. I remember talking to Simon Saebo. I remember he said if this is something political, we aren’t safe here either. . . .

We ran across Lovers’ Path. My little brother and I made our way down a sort of slope, cliff-edge thing. The bangs were getting nearer and in the end they were really, really close. . . .

Whether I was hit when I was jumping—here—or when I landed, I don’t know, but I ended up down there and my brother was close by. . . .

Then I heard this crazy whistling sound in my right ear and I found myself by the edge of the water. I tried to get up several times, I was a bit sort of Bambi on the ice, you know, and I called out to my brother. But then I decided the best thing was just to lie down in the fetal position somewhere. I curled myself round a rock on the shoreline and stayed there. I was conscious the whole time. It was strange being shot, it didn’t hurt—it was just unpleasant. A new kind of pain. I lay there and started trying to get my bearings. I looked at my fingers and saw they were only hanging on by scraps of skin. I realized I couldn’t see out of one eye and that something must be wrong there. I started running my hand over my head and eventually I came across something soft and then I touched my brain; I was feeling my own brain. It was a weird so I took my hand away pretty quick. I remember Simon Saebo was lying there, but I didn’t know then that he was dead. I remember I talked to him, said it would be all right and we’d get through it together.

Engh:   Did you know him well?

Viljar:   Very well.

Engh:  And you only found out later that he was dead?

Viljar:   Yes. I think I just didn’t want to take it in . . . at the time. I remember it vividly, lying there, that . . . well, I’ve seen lots of bad American films about how important it is to keep breathing and stay awake. So I tried to go on talking, came out with lots of strange stuff. In the end I think I was burbling on about pirates or something.

Engh:  Did anyone talk to you?

Viljar: They shushed me. He must have come back again, I think, without me realizing. So then they shushed me, like, “Please shut up!”’

Engh:  Your brother, what happened to him?

Viljar:  I lost track of him. The last thing I saw was him moving away from me. Like I was trying to get him to. I didn’t see him again after that, and that was the worst bit for me. I tried to distract myself by thinking about things I enjoyed in everyday life. I thought about going back home to Svalbard, and driving the snowmobile and girls and other things that are really great. I thought about all sorts of things except where my little brother was. For me, dying wasn’t an option and that was smart. Well, in a way I didn’t realize how badly injured I was. I remember I started to feel freezing and get spasms. I was shaking like mad. I remember, though I don’t know how long it lasted, that I passed out. I don’t know when that happened, but I think it must have been a little while before they came for us. . . .

The waves were knocking my back quite hard. There was a man beside me, asking, “What’s your name? Where do you live?” to keep me awake. I remember asking if they’d seen a small, red-haired boy. And he said no.

Engh:  Where did the bullets hit you?

Viljar:  I was hit in the thigh, just a slight graze. And then there’s my fingers here, you can’t miss that, I was shot in the hand, and then it was my shoulder, all this up here was pulverized. Then I was shot in the forearm, this little scar, and then I was shot in the head. If that makes five, then that’s it.

Engh:  And the shot in the head, how has it affected you since?

Viljar:   I lost this eye, but that’s useful: it means I don’t have to look over there. [Viljar nods in the direction of Breivik.] But as for my brain and that, I’ve still got my wits about me.

Engh:  So we hear. And are things going to continue that way?

Viljar:  Quite a challenge, all the anxiety and nerves. I only feel safe in a moving car. Anxiety and paranoia. I still seem to find things difficult. Not on Svalbard and maybe not in Tromso, but I find it unpleasant being in Oslo. Being here now. . . .

I had to cancel my place at an AUF event because I got too scared to go. It’s hard. Life has really changed . . . . I can’t just wax my skis and set off any more . . . We’re all dependent on having self-confidence and feeling at ease. It does something to you when your whole face has changed and . . .

Judge Arntzen: I think you’re finished then.

Viljar: Fabulous.