HEARTS BROKEN FOR KURT
Sister-in-law of first victim pays tribute to ‘hero we’ll never forget’
KURT Cochran was a cool dad. At 54, he loved skateboarding and playing basketball with his two grown-up sons.
Apart from family, music was his passion. He made his living from a recording studio he’d built himself in his basement, and the musicians he worked with remembered “a warm, lovely, laid-back guy” who made everything easy for them.
Terrorist Khalid Masood, a thug who spent his life spreading misery and violence, murdered Kurt in a random act of savagery on London’s Westminster Bridge.
Kurt and wife Melissa, from Salt Lake City, USA, were on their last full day of a dream trip to Europe to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary.
They went to Scotland – where they saw Edinburgh Castle – and took in Ireland, Austria and Germany before visiting Melissa’s parents, who are Mormon missionaries in London.
Kurt was the first to be hit when Masood mounted the pavement and rammed a crowd of 27 pedestrians.
Melissa was also struck. She lay on the pavement, her leg broken and blood pouring from a head wound, not knowing her husband had been fatally injured.
In the global city of London, Masood’s attack claimed victims from all over the world. As well as 12 British nationals, the wounded included three French children, two Romanians, four South Koreans, one German, one Pole, one Irish citizen, one Chinese national, one American, one Italian and two Greeks.
Masood hurled Kurt into the air, sending him over a wall and 15ft on to a stairwell below. He suffered catastrophic head injuries and multiple fractures and died in hospital yesterday – the day he and his wife were due to fly home.
Melissa’s sister Sara Payne-McFarland wrote on Facebook: “SO, SO SORRY to inform everyone – Kurt has passed away from the injuries he received during the attack in London.
“My sister, Melissa, has a broken leg, a broken rib, and a cut on her head.
“While we are glad she survived, our hearts are broken and will never be the same after losing our dear uncle,
brother-in-law, father. Kurt, you are a HERO, and we will never forget you.”
Sara also posted a picture of Big Ben and the Union Flag, with the words: “Prayers for London.”
Melissa’s brother Clint Payne added: “Our family is heartbroken. Kurt was a good man and a loving husband. We love him so much and will never forget him.”
He thanked the emergency services and hospital staff in London and asked friends to pray for Melissa and the family.
Sister-in-law Shantell remembered Kurt as “our beautiful brother, father, husband, son and friend”.
She added: “This pain is so heartwrenching and raw it has rocked our family and all that knew him to its core. We will miss Kurt beyond words.”
Kurt got his first guitar when he was seven and was a mainstay of the local music scene in Salt Lake.
Musician Kurt Landenberger, who worked at his Onion Street studio, said: “He was a warm, loving guy, laid-back. He made it seem really easy – just a real good, genuine guy.”
Kurt and Melissa sponsored a stage at a local music festival, and he had been involved as a volunteer in a benefit concert called Until the Violence Stops.
Neighbours in West Bountiful near Salt Lake said they were an outgoing, friendly couple. One said Melissa was known for her kindness to the neighbourhood kids.
Kurt had his sons in a previous relationship. Their stepdad, Danny Wiley, said: “He was a good guy, everybody liked him. He always had a smile on his face.”
Danny said he and Kurt always got on well, and Kurt revelled in his skateboarding sessions and basketball games with his boys.
President Trump used Twitter to pay tribute to Kurt. He wrote: “A great American, Kurt Cochran, was killed in the London terror attack. My prayers and condolences are with his family and friends.”
Melissa was recovering from her injuries yesterday as hospitals across London treated Masood’s victims.
Forty people were hurt in the attack, with 29 treated in hospital. Five people remained in critically ill last night and two had life-threatening injuries.
Four people were critically ill at King’s College Hospital. Two more were stable, as were two patients at St Thomas’s. Three police officers were hurt.