Australians Julie and Mark Wallace were forced to face their worst fears when they couldn’t contact their daughter Sara Zelenak for days after the 2017 London Bridge terror attack.
After being told by the Australian federal police to travel to England, the parents discovered Sara was a victim of the terrorist attack as they were landing, they told Australian Story in a new interview.
21-year-old Sara, who had been in London working as a nanny, was meant to meet her family in Paris in just four weeks time, but never made it as she was tragically killed.
“She was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Julie says.
Julie said she first heard about the attack from a friend who has asked if she had heard from Sara. Julie tried and tried to contact her daughter, but no answer.
When Julie and Mark’s son called them with the news of Sara’s death, the grieving mother says she couldn’t breathe. “I couldn’t do anything, it was real.”
They soon discovered that Sara was stabbed to death by the attackers.
To honour their daughter’s memory, Julie and Mark have created a non-for profit charity called Sarz’ Sanctuary, a healing retreat for those suffering from traumatic grief.
To raise money they also organised a bike ride from London to Paris, where they were meant meet their daughter the year before.
“We wanted to have that journey we were meant to have with her”.
You can watch the full Australian Story episode here.
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