If you’re struggling, know that help is always available. Call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit their website.
The moment Emma Van Der Waal discovered her friend Ashlee Good was caught up in the horrific attack at Westfield Bondi Junction is one that will stay with her forever.
WATCH: Tributes grow for Bondi Junction stabbing victims
Ashlee, 38, was the first victim to be publicly identified from the stabbing rampage on April 13. She was fatally wounded while trying to save her nine-month-old baby, who was also stabbed.
“All Ash ever wanted to do was find her soulmate and have a family,” Emma tells New Idea.
“I can’t get past the last bit of what she would be thinking. She would have wanted someone to save her baby. That’s Ash … she was so selfless.”
Ashlee’s desperate last moments – which saw her throwing daughter Harriet into the arms of two strangers and pleading for their help – touched people across Australia.
Harriet suffered knife wounds and remains in Sydney Children’s Hospital after undergoing surgery. She is in a stable condition.
It was later reported Ashlee’s husband, Daniel Flanagan, arrived at St Vincent’s Hospital just in time to be with his wife before she succumbed to her injuries. He then raced across Sydney to be by his daughter’s side.
“I know Harriet’s getting a little bit better,” Emma says. She adds that Ash’s “beautiful parents” Kerry and Denise, her sister, and partner Daniel are “going to have a lot of support”.
Emma met Ash 10 years ago at Isagenix, a health and wellness company where Emma still works. From travelling the world together for work to their beach walks along the Sunshine Coast (where Ash used to live), there are many memories that Gold Coast-based Emma reflects fondly on.
But Ash’s desire to be a mum is what sticks with Emma the most. “When she finally met Dan and I met [my partner] Adam, we’d always text each other that we found the loves of our lives – and in our thirties!” Emma adds with a smile. “She just always wanted to be a mum. She and Dan were beautiful together. It’s so unfair.”
Emma learnt of Ash’s death from the news. “We saw there was an attack in Sydney and that a baby was involved, which was horrible,” she says.
“My friend had been trying to call me but my phone was flat. Then I saw my colleagues start to post tributes about Ash. I couldn’t believe it.”
Heartbreakingly, Ash should have been celebrating her first Mother’s Day in just a few weeks. She had just returned to her job as an account executive from maternity leave. She’d previously worked as an osteopath.
Ash’s devastated family said they are “struggling to come to terms” with the tragedy and thanked the public for their well-wishes.
“To the two men who held and cared for our baby when Ashlee could not – words cannot express our gratitude,” they said.
Emma is encouraging people to remember “who Ash was, not how she died”.
“Everyone had a special bond with her,” Emma says. “She was like a beacon of light and I think that’s why so many people are hurting. Ash will be so missed.”
If you’re struggling, know that help is always available. Call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit their website.
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