Face of hero who fought London Bridge terrorist with 2 narwhal tusks
A BRAVE civil servant who fought London Bridge terrorist Usman Khan with a narwhal tusk spoke for the first time yesterday about his actions.
Darryn Frost, 38, grabbed the whale horn from the wall in Fishmongers’ Hall, at the north end of the bridge, as Khan went on a killing spree on November 29 during a prisoner rehabilitation event.
Mr Frost, a South African who works in the Ministry of Justice communications department and has lived in Britain for 14 years, was filmed fighting Khan off along with other members of the public. His identity was not known until yesterday.
Mr Frost said he grabbed the tusk from the wall and used it against Khan – who was stabbing people – as another man kept the terrorist at bay with a wooden chair.
He added: ‘He had knives in both hands and, upon seeing me with the narwhal tusk, pointed at his midriff he turned and spoke to me, then indicated he had an explosive device around his waist.
‘At this point, the man next to me threw his chair at the attacker, who then started running towards him with knives raised above his head.’
Mr Frost passed the tusk to his unarmed comrade before racing back upstairs to find another to use.
When he returned, he found the first tusk ‘shattered across the floor’ and saw people fleeing the building.
He said: ‘Along with others, I pursued the attacker, tusk in hand, on to the bridge. We called out to warn the public of the danger and, after a struggle, managed to restrain him to the ground.’
Mr Frost added: ‘At that point I was trying to isolate the blades by holding his wrists so that he could not hurt anyone or set off the device.’ Footage from the attack shows Mr Frost pinning Khan to the ground before he is pulled away by a police officer and the terrorist is shot dead seconds later.
Mr Frost recounted his selfless actions on the day Khan’s victims, Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones, were celebrated by family and friends at two separate church services. Rock star Nick Cave performed Into My Arms at the funeral service for Mr
Merritt in Cambridge after the 25-yearold’s friends carried his wicker casket to the Smiths song This Charming Man.
The service for Miss Jones, 23, took place at the Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, where William Shakespeare is buried.
Mr Merritt’s girlfriend Leanne O’Brien led the tributes to the Cambridge graduate at the service at St Mary’s Church, telling a congregation of hundreds: ‘He made me feel it was possible to achieve anything and everything.
‘I’ll miss your big heart and how loved you made me feel.’
Miss Jones and Mr Merritt were attending a Cambridge University event called Learning Together, designed to help rehabilitate inmates, when they were attacked at Fishmongers’ Hall in central London.
Khan was attending the event himself, having been jailed on terror charges.