A tribute to the lives lost at the Sydney siege
By Pip Charlton, Editor, QSR Media UK.
As our beautiful country awakes to the dawn of a new, less innocent age, we wanted to pay our tributes to Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson- the two hostages that lost their lives at the Lindt Chocolate Cafe in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
Lindt has become something of an institution in the years since it has opened, favoured by the lawyers, bankers and busy executives that work in nearby office blocks. Therefore it was perhaps no surprise that it was bustling with patrons picking up their morning coffees and hot chocolates, and meeting up with friends in the busy run-up to Christmas.
Katrina was one such patron. I knew her from our time living on campus together at The University of Sydney, where it was obvious that by any measure she was a spectacularly talented individual. Working nearby and there to have coffee with two fellow barrister friends, the mother of three was a rising star of the Bar. That a husband could lose his wife, that three children could have their mother taken from them in such circumstances, and that Australia could have lost one of its brightest talents is both devastating and beyond comprehension.
Tori was the cafe's Manager. A job he'd held for two years, hospitality was in his blood, and by all accounts, a vocation he excelled at. Whilst not yet confirmed, it is believed he lost his life battling the hostage taker for his shot gun.
That the life of two talented, innocent people, going about their regular business on a day like any other, could be snatched by such a twisted, deeply disturbed individual is a tragedy.
As family, friends and the nation grieve for Katrina and Tori, and empathise with the suffering endured by the rest of the hostages, our thoughts and sympathies extend to them all, and to the Lindt Sprungli group as they grapple to deal with this most terrible of days.
