The Heroes . . .

Last Sunday, sitting in my hotel room at London Stansted Airport, I was already looking forward to flying back to Salzburg on Monday. I popped over to the airport, which is in walking distance of the hotel, to take advantage of Marks and Spencer’s food hall and buy some goodies to take back to my room. The airport reminded me of a war zone, with armed policemen carrying machine guns looking ready to shoot anyone who made a false move.

Of course, we are all on edge, especially being so near to the capital, as only the night before the third terrorist attack in six weeks took place on London bridge – killing eight innocent people and injuring 50, many seriously. There are such tragic stories behind each victim and many families are in mourning. When is it ever going to stop? How on earth are we going to stop these evil people? Theresa May said "enough is enough" but what does the government plan to do?

Terrorists have never had it so good; it only takes one to detonate a bomb in a concert full of teenagers or hire a van and drive it into unsuspecting crowds of people, who are just out having a good time in the London pubs and restaurants or going about their everyday lives. This time there were three of them, all of whom had lived in England and had taken advantage of the generous welfare system that Britain has to offer.

However, from these terrible stories there were great tales of heroism. After so many attacks, people are becoming mentally prepared and willing to fight back. These people are our heroes; instead of running away from the terrorists, they risk their own lives to help. They are the bravest of the brave . On London Bridge, while the terrorists were stabbing anyone who got in their way, Londoners and tourists fled for their lives. But some were not escaping – they were running towards the danger. A beautiful Australian nurse, Kirsty Boden, 28, dashed towards the wounded to help and paid with her own life. Ignacio Echeverria, 39, a Spaniard who worked for a London bank, stopped his bicycle to try and fight off a terrorist with his skateboard and lost his own life. When the terrorists entered a restaurant, Gerald Vowls, 47, who had been watching the Champions League final, threw empty crates and bottles at them while Roy Larner, 47, "Did what he had to do". When the terrorist shouted: "This is for Allah" he charged at them and shouted "This is for Millwall, you idiots!" his favourite football team. He was stabbed repeatedly while saving the lives of others, but survived. He may be awarded the George Cross for his bravery.

When I returned to my hotel room, Ariana Grande’s benefit concert was about to begin. The beautiful 23-year-old American singer is anything but "Grande" in height, but for me she is enormous when it comes to courage. Just two weeks after Salman Abedi detonated a bomb at her Manchester concert, killing 22 young people and injuring over 100, she organised a star-studded concert for more than 50,000 fans. Most of them were teenagers who were at the first concert and received free tickets. The theme was 'Love not Hate' and stars such as Robbie Williams, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Take That and Coldplay – to name but a few – put this message across.

The people of Britain, the "JustGiving" charities and the benefit concert have raised millions of pounds for victims and their families. No, it won’t bring back those who have been brutally murdered, but in Britain we always feel the need to do something whether it is to lay flowers and candles or raise money – it is just the way we are. to prevail – triumphieren to look forward to sth. – sich auf etwas freuen to pop over – hinüberflitzen to take advantage of – ausnützen goodies – tolle Sachen to remind sbd. – jmd. erinnern war zone – Kriegsgebiet ready to shoot – bereit zu schießen to be on edge – nervös sein the capital – die Hauptstadt to take place – stattfinden to injure – verletzen victim – Opfer in mourning – trauernd evil people – böse Menschen unsuspecting crowd – arglose Menschenmenge everyday life –Alltag generous welfare system – großzügiges Sozialsystem tale of heroism – Heldengeschichte willing – bereit the bravest of the brave – der Tapferste unter den Tapferen to stab sbd. – jmd. niederstechen to dash – rennen the wounded – die Verwundeten to throw – werfen empty crates – leere Bierkisten to survive – überleben anything but – alles außer courage – Mut star-studded – mit Stars gespickt to name but a few – um nur einige zu nennen to put a message across – eine Botschaft vermitteln to raise money – Geld aufbringen the need – das Bedürfnis