Courage

 

Mother of three shields pregnant woman during siege in Sydney

By Dave Andrusko

Katrina Dawson

It was one act of bravery among many that took place in the chaos that surrounded a siege in Sydney, Australia, in which three people were killed, including hostage-taker, Man Haron Monis.
The Daily Mail reports that mother-of-three Katrina Dawson shielded her friend, Julie Taylor, who is 19 weeks pregnant, when Monis entered the Lindt Chocolate Cafe in downtown Martin Place. Taylor, who recently wed, fled the café with two others about 15 minutes before police ended the 16-hour-siege in the early hours Tuesday morning in a desperate attempt to free hostages.

Tragically Taylor would later discover that Dawson, her friend and colleague, whose three children are all under ten, had died in the hospital, reportedly from a heart attack. Dawson and Taylor, both barristers in Sydney’s central business district opposite the site of the siege, were getting coffee at the café when the terrorist attack began.

Tori Johnson, the cafe’s 34-year-old manager, also died when he attempted to wrestle the gun away from the gunman.

 

Source: NRLC News