Southport yoga teacher Leanne Lucas says she is determined to use the memories of the girls who died and were injured in the knife attack at The Hart Space in July “as a driving force to change things for other people in the future”.
Leanne, 35, was among several children and adults left severely wounded by knife injuries on 29th July this year.
She was leading a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga class when the attack happened.
The teacher, who suffered serious stab wounds while trying to protect two girls, said the Southport community has become connected in a way “we couldn’t have imagined would be possible out of something so horrific”.
Ms Lucas told LBC Radio: “My purpose was creating wellbeing events for children and families, and for that to happen where I was, and for the words I spoke and the children spoke, for that to be trampled over has just really dampened all of our spirits, feeling unsafe, feeling like we just lost faith in the world really.
“I’m not too sure how we’ll ever move on, apart from use the girl’s memories as a driving force to change things for other people in the future, so this doesn’t have to happen to them again.
“I try to resemble it as us being connected by an invisible piece of string. We’re all connected in the most horrible way.
“Sometimes that string will fray and tangle and knot, but at the best of times, it will wrap together and it’s brought a lot of us closer, creating kindness and warmth, and it’s created a strong force that almost we couldn’t have imagined would be possible out of something so horrific.
“There has been a lot of love come from Southport, a lot of love come from all over the world.
“The impact has been tragic, but there has been some glimmers, at times.”
She added: “Hopefully people will be hearing a lot more from me in the future, after everything’s happened and things are finished, I’m hoping my voice will get louder and louder and people will join me in that.”
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