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Morecambe terror attack survivor returns to Westminster Bridge for first time

Wednesday, 23 March 2022 06:28

Owen Lambert with the memorial plaque on Westminster Bridge, March 22 2022

A survivor of the Westminster terror attack from Morecambe has returned to the scene for the first time.

Owen Lambert visited Westminister Bridge in London for the unveiling of a memorial to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the attack which claimed the lives of five people.

Owen, 23, was injured on the afternoon of March 22 2017 when Khalid Masood drove a car at high speed along the bridge, killing pedestrians Kurt Cochran, Aysha Frade, Andreaa Cristea and Leslie Rhodes, and leaving many others seriously hurt.

As Owen sat wounded on the bridge, Masood crashed his vehicle into a barrier outside the Houses of Parliament. Masood then stabbed and killed PC Keith Palmer inside the grounds of Parliament before being shot dead by a security officer.

Owen suffered a deep cut to his forehead which required hospital treatment to glue it shut, and bruising to other parts of his body. He believes he was hit by the wing mirror of Masood’s vehicle as it drove along the bridge.

Owen, at the time a politics student at Edge Hill University in Ormskirk, was in London on a trip to the Houses of Parliament. He’d just left Westminster on a lunch break and was walking along the bridge when the attack occurred.

It was an emotional return for Owen, who had never been back to the bridge since the horrific events of March 22 2017. He said it was the first time he'd "found the courage" to visit.

He said he was pleased to see that a permanent memorial had finally been created, a plaque on the bridge, to remember those who lost their lives, those who were injured and "the incredible emergency services who ran towards danger to save us".

“While the scar on my head will never heal, I will never forget the kindness of the every day person who stopped their lives to help,” he said.

“A massive thank you to the organisers and especially Travis Frain for all the hard work he has put in keeping the memory of the victims and survivors alive.”

Travis, a friend and fellow student of Owen’s who was also injured during the attack, has been a driving force behind the campaign for a memorial.

He also set up the Resilience in Unity Project, a counter-radicalisation website featuring the testimony of people who survived terror attacks.

Owen also attended a memorial service in St Margaret’s Church, Westminster, on Tuesday during his visit to London.

The service was also attended by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who paid tribute to the victims.

Since the attack, Owen has graduated from Edge Hill with a history and politics degree. He stood as MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale for the Liberal Democrats in the 2019 General Election, aged just 21, and came third.

He went on to manage the Covid-19 vaccination centre at the Mazuma Stadium, and now works as retail manager for Morecambe Football Club.

 

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