THE mum of a “courageous” Southport victim today told how she “fought to survive” as she was stabbed 33 times.
Triple killer Axel Rudakubana launched into a savage knife attack at a Taylor Swift dance class last summer.
Parents of those injured in the Southport attack today revealed their torment
Axel Rudakubana was jailed for life
The 18-year-old murdered Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, and injured other children in the horror.
A public inquiry will now look at whether the attack could or should have been prevented given what was known about the killer.
Today, the parents of children injured in the July 29 massacre opened up on their torment almost a year on.
One mum told how her “tiny” seven-year-old daughter heroically shielded her friends from the attacker.
She said her daughter, named as Child 1, was captured on CCTV being dragged to the back of the room by Rudakubana and stabbed 33 times.
She told the hearing: “That is how she became known in this nightmare – the girl that was dragged back in.
“She is so much more than that moment on CCTV. Those moments carried so much courage and determination to survive, that the CCTV footage does not tell us.”
The mum said the most devastating thing to come to terms with was that there were “no adults to help” her daughter.
She continued: “She was only supported by other children. The courage and strength she found leaves me crushed, but in complete awe.
“I would like to say that I don’t for a moment doubt that the actions of the teachers there that day saved lives.
“They escaped to call the police and flag down help, they shielded other children. I am grateful for what they did for those girls.
“But the uncomfortable and often unspoken truth of our own reality is that, when the adults left in those first moments, our daughter had to save herself.”
PAElsie Dot was stabbed to death at a dance class[/caption]
PABebe King, 6, was among the youngsters stabbed to death[/caption]
PAAlice Dasilva Aguiar was also left dead in the rampage[/caption]
The mum also told the inquiry it is “these untold stories of remarkable strength and bravery that are missing when we have heard other accounts of this day”.
She said her daughter “fought like hell” to get out of the building twice and that she and other children battled “alone”.
One mum whose daughter was attacked said her daughter became “very withdrawn, emotional and had so many worries” after witnessing the horror.
She asks still: “How will I ever be normal again?”
Her mum said arriving to collect her daughter on that day and seeing screaming children from the building was “the most horrific experience of my life”.
She told how the girl, referred to only as Child Q, is now anxious about not being with her parents and is still scared when she hears a siren.
She continued: “She is still unable to sleep alone and struggles with falling asleep. She always asks for doors to be closed when we enter or leave a room, this helps her to feel safe.
“Changes have also been made at school; she now sits where she can see the door so she can always be aware of who is entering the classroom.
“On a few occasions she has been unable to attend school due to her anxiety, explaining this as her tummy feels funny and hiding under the dining table at home.”
Mum’s harrowing statement in full
THE mum of Child 1 described in painful detail how her daughter fought like hell to save herself and other children.
Here is her statement in full:
“She tells me that she had tried to find a way out. There was only one way to safety, to find her dad and that was down the stairs. She tells us how the door was narrow, and everyone was trying to push through. She describes it as a stampede.
“In the chaos she was knocked over and found herself trapped and huddled with two other children at the top of the stairs. She talks quietly of how she put her arms around the girls as he began to attack them. She tells me with such clarity that a moment came where one of the girls was able to get up.
“She put the girl’s hand on the handrail and told her to go — to get down the stairs – and she did. The attack continued, she was still holding another girl, ‘I crouched over the top of her’, she says. ‘I told her it would be okay’.
“She recalls this with such purpose and determination, like it was her responsibility. It happened so fast, but I helped them, I’m glad I could help them, mum’, she tells me. She pulled herself up on the middle landing and tells me how she yelled for the other girl to follow her.
“But he started coming after her and she had to run. She tells me how she couldn’t breathe, and things were getting fuzzy. She had, we believe, about five or six stab wounds by this point. Somehow, she emerges from the building and we see her, for a brief moment on CCTV, escaping, finding help, showing so much strength.
“But her arm is badly injured and it’s trailing behind, and he grabs it. In a flash of struggle, she’s gone again. For eleven seconds she is out of sight. And then there she is again. She has stood up after enduring another attack of more than twenty stab wounds to her back and shoulders.
“She stumbles outside to the windows reaching for help. She eventually falls and soon after is carried to safety. She may be a survivor of this attack, but she is still trying to survive this, every single day. We tell her she was brave. How proud we are that she was able to help other girls. How her strength makes us feel strong. How important what she did that day was.
“She feels that in those moments it was her responsibility to help other girls and get them out of the building. She looks back at what she could or should have done differently and how this might have changed the outcome. She struggles to understand how she survived.”
The dad of one of the girls, named as C3, told Liverpool Town Hall it was “patently clear that lessons need to be learned from what happened, and processes need to be changed”.
Sitting beside the girl’s mother in the witness box, he said: “Our nine-year-old daughter was stabbed three times in the back by a coward she didn’t even see.
“Although she didn’t know what was happening – she knew she had to run.”
Describing his daughter as his “hero”, the father said she remained “the positive, caring, funny, enthusiastic, courageous girl she always was”.
He said: “She wears her scars with a dignity and defiance that is remarkable.”
One mum, whose seven-year-old daughter C8 was injured, said she was at work when she received a “panicked phone call” from her friend’s mum.
She told how she rushed to the scene and saw “something no parent should ever see”.
The mum said her daughter, who suffered injuries to her arm and face, could not be left alone any more and only felt safe with a small number of people.
She continued: “I am grateful beyond words that she survived. But what she went through, what she saw and what she continues to carry has changed everything.”
Another mum sobbed as she told how her daughter and the girls involved deserve the truth, accountability, an apology and the promise changes will be made.
She revealed she is “terrified” for her daughter to learn what the inquiry finds as it will be “earth-shattering for her and we will have to begin her recovery again”.
The mum added: “We are trying to shield her as much as possible whilst we understand this ourselves.
“She has every right to ask these questions. This inquiry must answer them.”
Retired senior judge Sir Adrian Fulford is leading the review, which has now been formally postponed until September.
He has made the decision not to name the killer and instead refer to him as AR.
In his opening statement, the chairman said Rudakubana’s actions were “almost unimaginable but nonetheless mercilessly calculated”.
The inquiry has been split into two phases, with the first focusing on the circumstances leading to the attack and AR’s contact with Prevent.
Sir Adrian will now examine how young people are “drawn into extreme violence” during the second phase.
Following the horror, it emerged the killer had a “sickening interest in death” and had made chilling searches for school massacres before carrying out the rampage.
His morbid fascination saw him flagged three times to anti-terror programme Prevent but no further action was taken.
What happened in Southport?
THE horror unfolded last summer as 26 excited children gathered for the dance class to kick off the summer holidays.
The two-hour event had been organised by instructors Leanne Lucas and Heidi Liddle at The Hart Space.
Just three miles away, Rudakubana had armed himself with a 20cm knife.
Chilling footage showed the killer pacing outside his home before being picked up in a taxi.
Just 30 minutes later, he arrived at the community centre as the children sang Taylor Swift songs and made friendship bracelets.
Leanne opened a window due to the summer heat and saw the masked teen outside but thought nothing of it.
But seconds later, the door opened and Rudakubana stormed into the class and began attacking children and adults at random.
Screams rang out as the killer teen systematically made his way through the room stabbing his victims with the black-handled Cerbera kitchen knife.
Hero dance teacher Leanne was stabbed in the arms, neck and back as she used her body to shield young girls from the knifeman.
She screamed at the children to “run away”
Her colleague Heidi Liddle escaped uninjured after bravely locking some of the children inside a toilet.
Businessman Jonathan Hayes, who was working in the office next door, was attacked after he ran inside and tried to stop the carnage.
At 11.57am – 12 minutes after the rampage began – police stormed the scene.
Officers found Rudakubana holding the large, bloodied kitchen knife and he was arrested.
After the horror attack, the teen said “I’m glad they’re dead” as he was held in a custody suite.
As a result, the killer was free to storm the Hart Space community centre and begin senselessly knifing terrified children and adults.
A rapid review into his contact with Prevent found his case should have been kept open.
It also concluded Rudakubana should have been referred to Channel, another anti-terror scheme.
The killer pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and ten of attempted murder.
He also admitted two terror offences after police found ricin and an Al-Qaeda manual at his home.
Despite this, cops are still not treating the attack as terror-related.
He was jailed for life with a minimum of 52 years following the horrific triple murder but will likely never be released.
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