London’s terror hero fit to walk
A police officer seriously injured fighting off the London Bridge attackers has revealed he is able to walk by himself again and hopes to return to work next month.
One year on from the atrocity, which left eight innocent people dead and saw the terror trio killed by police on a busy Saturday night in central London, Wayne Marques thanked the public for their “inspiring” support.
The British Transport Police officer, 39, told last year how he thought in the moments after being injured that he would die, having been stabbed multiple times, including in the head, leg and hand.
In the year since the June 3 attack he said he had made “significant progress” and expressed his eagerness to get back to work in July, but admitted he has a way to go in his recovery.
Marques was hailed a hero after fighting off terrorists Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba with just his baton, having been temporarily blinded in one eye as they lunged at him with knives.
The officer, who is still undergoing rehab, said: “I’ve made significant progress, obviously, since that night. I’m much more independent, much more able. I’m standing, I’m walking, I’m talking, I’m able to socialise again, see family and friends.”
He conceded his family still have concerns about his return to work but said, “It’s a job that I enjoy. It’s who I am, to be honest.”
He had a series of operations and spent almost three weeks in hospital following the attack, and said when he was bedbound it was messages of support from the public, often complete strangers, that encouraged him.
Marques, who was born in Birmingham but lives in south London, said he had read as many of the public’s messages to him as possible, describing the response as overwhelming.