Brisbane nanny died from stab wound to neck
THE mother of a Brisbane nanny killed in the London Bridge terror attack has heard how her daughter died from a knife wound to the neck.
Julie Wallace sat quietly in Southwark Coroner’s Court yesterday as a police officer outlined the final moments of her daughter Sara Zelenak.
The 21-year-old au pair was enjoying a night out with friends when she was attacked by one of the fanatics. Eight people were murdered on June 3, when three attackers ploughed into pedestrians with a white van before stabbing revellers in Borough Market.
Miss Zelenak, whose father Ondre lives on the Gold Coast, was only in the London Bridge area that night because she had been given the night off.
Inquests into five of the eight victims were opened yesterday.
Mrs Wallace and her husband Mark held hands as they arrived at the court. The couple initially had no idea what had happened to Miss Zelenak and phoned every hospital in London to find her. They then flew from Brisbane to London to continue the search.
Scotland Yard confirmed she had died four days after the attack. Detective Chief Inspector Simon Moring told the court Miss Zelenak’s “provisional cause of death was the stab wound to the neck”.
Nurse Kirsty Boden, 28, from South Australia was killed by a knife wound to the chest after running towards the danger in a selfless attempt to save lives. She was found in the shadow of Southwark Cathedral.
James McMullan, 32, from London, died from a haemorrhage caused by a knife wound to his chest in Borough Market.
Chef Sebastien Belanger, 36, from France, was drinking at a restaurant when he was repeatedly stabbed in the chest.
Ignacio Echeverria, 39, from Spain, was stabbed in the back on London Bridge as he tried to defend a woman with his skateboard.