London Bridge attack: Hero nurse stabbed to death as she tried to help another victim, inquest hears
Boyfriend tells court he is 'still in awe of her bravery'
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Your support makes all the difference.An Australian nurse was stabbed to death by terrorists after she ran to help another victim of the London Bridge attack, an inquest has heard.
Relatives of 28-year-old Kirsty Boden said they were "in awe of her bravery" in the June 2017 atrocity, when she was one of eight people killed.
The Old Bailey heard she was inside a restaurant with friends when she heard what she believed to be an accidental car crash, and went to investigate.
But Ms Boden was unwittingly walking into the path of three Isis-inspired terrorists, who had mowed down pedestrians on London Bridge before crashing their van and launching a knife rampage.
The court was shown CCTV of Ms Boden motioning to her friends to stay back before seeing victim Alexandre Pigeard bleeding on the ground.
The nurse bent down to help when she was subjected to a sustained attack, running into an alleyway before collapsing and dying of her injuries.
Her British partner, James Hodder, told the court: "Her actions on that night didn't surprise anyone who knew her. To Kirsty it would not have seemed brave.
“She loved people and loved her life helping others. To Kirsty, her actions that night would have been an extension of how she lived her life. We are so unspeakably proud of her.”
At the time she was stabbed to death, Ms Boden was working as a senior staff nurse at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in central London.
Her father, Ken Boden, said: "We miss Kirsty every second of the day. There is a hole in our hearts that will never heal."
The other victims killed were Christine Archibald, 30, Xavier Thomas, 45, Mr Pigeard, 26, Sara Zelenak, 21, Sebastien Belanger, 36, James McMullan, 32, and Ignacio Echeverria, 39.
A total of 48 other people were seriously injured in what chief coroner Mark Lucraft called 10 minutes of “high and terrible drama”.
Spanish financial crime analyst Mr Echeverria hit the terrorists with a skateboard to save a woman's life before he was stabbed to death, the court heard.
The man Ms Boden tried to help, Mr Pigeard, was murdered while “rushing to see if he could help” victims of what he believed to be an accidental crash.
French chef Sebastien Belanger, 36, had been drinking at Boro Bistro and was cornered by all three of the attackers but “bravely fought back” before being stabbed to death.
Another Frenchman, 45-year-old Xavier Thomas, became the first victim of the attack when he was struck by the terrorists' van and thrown into the River Thames.
The father-of-two was walking with his girlfriend Christine Delcros on the first day of their holiday in London, and called his teenage son seconds before being killed.
The van repeatedly mounted the pavement on London Bridge, killing the second victim as she walked alongside her fiance.
The court heard that Canadian social worker Christine Archibald, 30, had kissed her husband-to-be and told him “I love you” moments before being killed.
Her fiance, Tyler Ferguson, said they were “very much looking forward” to spending the rest of their lives together and starting a family.
Australian au pair Sara Zelenak was on a ”trip of a lifetime“ when she was knifed to death while on a night out with a friend nearby, her family said.
And dual British-Filipino national James McMullan, 32, had been celebrating getting financial backing for his online education company when he was murdered.
The 32-year-old been watching the football match with friends in The Barrowboy and Banker pub when he went outside for a cigarette and was caught in the attack.
Their attackers, Khuram Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, were shot dead by police at the scene.
The court heard that the terrorists had taped 12ins ceramic kitchen knives to their wrists and were wearing fake suicide vests.
Their deaths will be examined before a jury, in separate inquests coming after an estimated eight weeks of hearings for their victims.
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The last victim was stabbed to death in Borough High Street, before the attackers reached Stoney Street bordering Borough Market. They were confronted and shot by armed police at 22:16.51 and 22:16.52. The attack lasted almost exactly 10 minutes in total
The inquest hears that all fatal injuries were inflicted in the first three minutes after the van mounted the pavement for the first time
The court is being shown diagrams of where each of the victims were killed. Xavier Thomas was struck appproximately half way across London Bridge and thrown into the River Thames. His body was discovered three days later
The court is being shown a diagram of where Mr Thomas's body was found downstream three days later, near Shadwell Basin.
The court is being shown diagrams of the paths of the van, where it hit Chrissy Archibald and where it crossed the carriageway and crashed by the Barrowboy and Banker pub
That is where the attackers jumped out and started their knife rampage
The inquest is being shown photos of the location of the attack, showing the steps the three terrorists went down after crashing the van and the area where they started stabbing victims below.
The area is on two different levels because of the height that London Bridge passes over the River Thames, by Southwark Cathedral
The court has heard that the van was going at 27mph when it hit Mr Thomas. The cause of his death was found to be immersion in water
Ms Archibald was stuck when the van was travelling at 34mph and dragged along. Her cause of death was multiple injuries.
D/Supt Riggs said the terrorists were shouting "Allahu Akbar", meaning "God is great" in Arabic, when they stabbed peopleMs
Ms Zelenak heard the crash and went to investigate but was attacked by the ringleader, Khuram Butt. She could not be resuscitated and her cause of death was given as a stab wound to the neck
Sebastien Belanger also went to investigate and was stabbed at the foot of the stairs down from London Bridge after being cornered by three attackers
Mr Belanger was pronounced dead at 22.51 from stab wounds to the chest
The court hears that Alexandre Pigeard also heardthe crash and went investigate. He was stabbed in the neck but managed to run back towards Boro Bistro
A photo of the courtyard outside shows a large pool of blood on the ground
D/Supt Riggs says Mr Pigeard was attacked by all three terrorists after he collapsed by a wall, and CCTV shows Butt, the ringleader, swiping with his knife at both Mr Pigeard and nurse Kirsty Boden as she tried to help him
Images shown to the court shows Ms Boden was sitting with two friends but got up to help after hearing the crash
CCTV shows her bending down by Mr Pigeard, before she was stabbed. Injured, she ran away from the attackers but collapsed in a nearby alleyway
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