Remembering love

’This little girl could be any of our children.‘

IT was the last day of summer school holidays and 10-yearold Thalia Hakin was on her way to a magic show in Melbourne.

But the girl “with a smile that could melt a frozen heart” never made it to the show and didn’t rejoin her classmates.

She was one of six people killed by a deadly car rampage through Bourke Street Mall on January 20, 2017.

Thalia’s dad Tony Hakin was one of several family members to offer emotional tributes to their lost loved ones during an anniversary memorial ceremony in Melbourne yesterday.

“This little girl could be any of our children. You lived for her, worked for her, stayed up with her when she was sick and she gave you complete, undying love and trust and affection,” Mr Hakin said.

He asked that media stop focusing on the “villain” responsible for the rampage.

“Focus on the six people, special people, and the injured. We don’t need pictures of the ugly mug,” he said.

Emily Mudie told the gathering she still misses her twin sister Jess Mudie, 22. “I see her in our family, in our friends and her friends, and all the things that I do,” she said.

On that fateful day Matthew Si, 33, had dropped his daughter at child care. He would never return. “I have had to adjust to a new life that will always be missing a loving husband and father,” Mr Si’s wife Melinda Tan said.

A solo violinist played to the memorial, in honour of Mr Si’s love of the instrument. — Tony Hakin, left, speaking at yesterday’s memorial service for the victims of last year’s Bourke Street Mall tragedy, which included his 10-year-old daughter Thalia (right)

For the first time the public learned details of victim Yosuke Kanno, 25, an occupational therapist who had been studying and living in Australia.

The Japanese man’s brother Junpei Kanno said his sibling was returned to his homeland “with horrific damages, scars and wounds all over his body”.

“I keep asking how could such an incident happen,” Mr Kanno said.

Premier Daniel Andrews said Victorians won’t forget January 20, 2017. “As one small note left at the scene put it simply, and profoundly, ‘We may not have known you but we will always remember you’,” he said.

Six people were killed and dozens injured when a vehicle ran down pedestrians along the mall. Alleged driver Dimitrious Gargasoulas has pleaded not guilty to 39 offences, including six counts of murder and 38 of attempted murder, over the rampage.

Other victims included three-month-old Zachary Bryant and 33-year-old Bhavita Patel. Zachary’s tearful father Matthew Bryant said his family has cherished memories of the young boy’s life. “Zachary was perfect, but he was too perfect for this world.”