Bourke Street attack anniversary: The lives changed forever by a moment

Updated

A spot of shopping. Trekking across town to the tennis. Darting down the street with errands to run, lunch to pick up.

It was an unremarkable summer afternoon for most of the people going about their day on one of Melbourne's busiest streets this time a year ago.

Until 1:30pm.

That's when a man driving a maroon sedan sped down Bourke Street's footpath, hitting dozens of unsuspecting pedestrians in his path.

Piercing screams were followed by an eerie silence as everyday citizens found themselves at a scene beyond anything they'd ever imagined.

The moment

Zoe was working at a pharmacy and had just finished ordering stock.

"It was a normal day; nice customers, rude customers," she says.

She grabbed her purse to go for a lunch break.

"I walked to the front of the store and said, 'You know what, I'm not hungry, I'll go in half an hour'," she says.

"I went to the counter and put my wallet away and then that's when it happened."

Chris was on that street, out for lunch.

"I was actually listening to a podcast and heading down the hill towards the Bourke Street mall," he remembers.

He realised a car was driving through the mall, usually restricted to pedestrians, and mounted the footpath.

"I saw people get hit and my first thought was I've got to try and help," Chris says.

He ran toward the people who were hurt before processing that, he too, was about to be mowed down.

"I actually had to consciously step out of the way of the car when I realised it was still coming towards me."

Trent was not so lucky. He did not have a chance to move before the car struck him.

Among the colleagues and clients he was heading to lunch with was Sydneysider Jess Mudie, who was also hit and died at the scene.

Trent's last memory is of getting into the office lift. The next thing he recalls is being in hospital and seeing his wife.

He has since been told the impact sent him flying through the air into a stationary taxi, before he hit his head on the ground.

"I certainly don't remember any of the incident whatsoever," he says.

Charlotte was working at her computer at Flight Centre when she heard crashing and banging outside.

"I knew something was wrong," she says.

She propelled herself out the door — only then did she understand just how wrong things were.

"You could see it down towards the tram stop there were people on the ground there, and it was just like … it bowled over so many people going up the street that you knew it was a big event."

Up the hill, Zoe's mind was in a fog as adrenalin pumped through her veins.

"My initial thought was oh my god, there's been a terrorist attack," she says.



"I could see all these police cars coming up over the hill and I thought 'It's like we're going to war or something'. I said out loud to myself 'Not my beautiful city, please not in Melbourne'.

"I ran outside and someone said 'They're shooting' and I thought, 'F***'. I looked up and there's shooters on the buildings.

"I literally said to myself, 'I'm going to die'."

The chaos

Chris ran to a woman who was laying on the ground.

"She didn't look like she'd come through it," he says.

"Her husband was wailing.

"So I tried to actually comfort him first of all.

"Then someone else was there with him, and I took another look at [the woman] and realised that she was breathing. And that's when I called for someone to help me and to help her."

Charlotte was one of those who ran to their aid.

The two strangers united to try to keep another stranger alive.

There was really no other choice.

"Things had quietened down, waiting for the ambulances to turn up," Chris says.

"There were police there on the scene but their job was completely different, to keep order or try and make some sort of order. But the people actually providing assistance were just civilians."

Their task seemed impossible — the woman at their side was motionless.

"I don't remember anything else from around us, it was just me and a couple of other people that were helping [her] and that was it, that was all that was happening in the world," Charlotte says.

"Someone was holding her head, and squeezing her hand and then she squeezed back."

She was still there.



They sighed in relief.

Nearby, Denise — who had been having lunch with a co-worker — was with a victim who had not been as fortunate.

"I remember before I crossed the road, the first thing I saw was her hair — that really stood out for me," Denise says.

"[The woman] was quite clearly already gone, but there was someone holding her hand.

"I was possibly, probably crying, but it was very still and quiet apart from that. I think everybody on the scene was in shock."

Although the woman had died, Denise felt an urge to try to protect her.

"There were people with phones taking photos, there was somebody that started taking a video, so I got rid of them, and just tried to kind of cover her up a bit so that there was at least some dignity."

At the pharmacy, Zoe and her colleagues grabbed supplies.

Bandages, icepacks, water. The shelves were cleared.

"I started screaming, 'We're a pharmacy, come and get whatever you need'," she says.

"There was a nurse that ran up the street and she told me what she needed so I was giving it to her."



The aftermath

As the reality of what had happened began to sink in, police escorted people away from the scene.

A disoriented Zoe had made a terrifying call to her family, and was looking forward to getting home to them.

"I got lost in the city, I was wandering and didn't know how to get to where I needed to go," she says.

"These two women asked me what had happened. I'll never forget their kindness.

"They walked me through the city, and they were on the phone to my mum and my partner figuring out how to get me to them."

A few streets away, people were unaware of what had unfolded, sipping lattes and having a chat.

"I thought oh my god, you're just living a normal day," Zoe says.

Trent says not being able to recall the crash scene has been a gift of sorts.

"Getting a good knock on the head has actually helped me out," he says.

"Those that just witnessed everything and helped out on the day, I can't really imagine what they would be going through.

"I do feel for them. I'm very fortunate in that sense."

The anniversary

One thing everyone can agree on is that Melbourne changed that day.

Charlotte still works on Bourke Street in the same office, at the same desk.

For a while she found it hard to go back, the street a reminder of what she can never unsee, and what she feared could happen again.

"Just walking past there, it's sort of like flashbacks and, you know, you sort of remember the sounds and how it felt.

"It'll never be the same."

However awful the memory, she is trying to move on with her life.

"I still feel really safe," she says.

"Things like that happen I suppose, and whether they're intentional or accidental you can't worry about it for the rest of your life, you've got to get on living and make the most of every day."

Trent, whose left leg was broken in two places, is still getting back to full strength.

But he recently swam 1.2 kilometres in the Pier to Pub at Lorne.

The event signifies that life is getting back to normal — he met his wife after the swim in 2011.

He says he became emotional in the water, thinking about the support he had been given in the past year.

"There was a couple of tears in the goggles there for a while," he says.

"I can't thank everyone enough."

For Chris, it took him a long time to get over guilt.

He questioned why he didn't alert others to the imminent attack, before running to help those already injured.

"Perhaps if I'd been completely focused I would have been able to run up the hill and say 'hey, there's a car coming' kind of thing. But of course I didn't think of that," he says.

"I remember seeing the people turn around to look over their shoulders as the car was going to hit them. And that was something that took me a while to get over."

The attack planted a seed of fear in many Melburnians, most of whom had been lucky enough to only witness such an event on their TV screens or social media feeds.

December's crash involving pedestrians on Flinders Street brought that awareness into full focus for Chris.

He says it's made him question whether or not this is something to be expected all the time.

"Anytime there's a disturbed individual, is this how they're going to act out?"

Denise never used to feel scared in Melbourne. That's changed.

"I find this city quite a scary place," she says.

Music has helped her cope.

"I'm a singer in a band so I wrote a song about what happened on that day and we've performed it with the band a couple of times.

"That's been really helpful, writing my feelings down and expressing them through music."

As the anniversary approached, Zoe decided to leave Melbourne for a trip to avoid the coverage that will bombard her screens and trigger painful memories.

"It still doesn't make sense to me and I don't know whether it will make sense to Melbourne because it was an inexplicable act that shocked us all.

"I think about the families and I think about the people on the street injured pretty much every day.

"What has stayed with me was really the kindness and willingness of others to help and support one another. It taught me a side of humanity that I didn't think I would see but I'll never forget."

Topics: disasters-and-accidents, law-crime-and-justice, crime, murder-and-manslaughter, melbourne-3000, vic

First posted