A woman injured in the London Bridge terror attack has told of her sadness at not attending last weekend’s commemoration service and the impact the events of June 3, 2017 have had on her life.
Sister Catherine Msoni, who runs the Divine Rescue food bank on Walworth’s Aylesbury Estate, was waiting for a bus outside Southwark Cathedral at 9.45pm on Saturday, June 3, 2017 with a homeless man who regularly visited her charity.
Speaking to the News in the aftermath of the attacks, she told how she saw a speeding white van zigzag from left to right as it deliberately mowed people down, before armed police arrived and shouted to ‘run and take cover’.
Sister Catherine fell to her feet trying to get to safety, but her companion helped her up and together they fled to the north side of the bridge, toward Monument.
A year after the attack, she told the News she credits homeless Zbigniew Niejadlik with saving her life, and says she is struggling with the legacy of what she saw.
“I’m am very scared to cross the roads, I still have nightmares and everything is still very fresh in my mind”, she told the News, “I still have flashbacks, my life has never been the same since that day.
“My legs are always swollen, I now have to use a walking stick, I have panic attacks, and I’m still waiting to go for counselling one year after.”
Although Southwark Victim Support have been offering their help, she says getting the right support is ‘a very slow process’.
Sister Catherine says she did not receive an invitation to any of the memorial events held over the weekend, which she describes as ‘a pity’.
Sadly, the man who helped her that night, Polish rough-sleeper Zbigniew Niejadlik, is still homeless, saying she believes more can be done to help him.
“How can a homeless person who was affected in a terror attack, which was never his fault, never get any help and no follow-ups and just left to his own fate on the streets?” she asks.
“I pray always for those families that lost their beloved ones for God to strengthen and comfort them every day, and while I am still wounded I carry on supporting the homeless and hoping one day there will be more justice for those that find themselves on the street for one reason or another.”