The parents of a young girl who suffered 33 separate stab wounds and twice fought to escape from the clutches of Southport killer Axel Rudakubana had spoken out for the first time after the publication of a major report into the events of July 29 2024.
The young girl’s mother delivered remarkable testimony at the start of the Southport Inquiry last July, explaining how her then seven-year-old daughter – referred to as C1 in the inquiry – had to “fight like hell” on two occasions to escape from the Hart Space dance studio as Rudakubana carried out his horrific attack.
Those attending on the second day of the inquiry sat in stunned silence as the mother explained how her little girl had sheltered others with her arms as the rampage took place, helping another child to get down the stairs and out to safety.
Having already been stabbed multiple times, the brave youngster had managed to escape herself before being dragged back inside by the murderer. While she was somehow able to escape again, she did so with 33 separate stab wounds and losing the entire volume of blood in her body.
She was airlifted to Alder Hey, where two separate surgeries saved her life but her harrowing injuries left her needing to learn how to sit, stand and walk again during what has been a long and painful recovery.
At the start of this week, the inquiry, which had sat at Liverpool Town Hall for two months during its initial phase, published its final 760-page report. This followed a detailed examination of how Rudakubana was able to carry out his attack – which killed Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguiar and severely wounded eight other children and two adults.
The inquiry, chaired by Sir Adrian Fulford, found that the attack should have been prevented but that no-one accepted responsibility for managing the risk posed by Rudakubana
Presenting the report, which highlighted wide-ranging failures across multiple agencies, Sir Adrian Fulford: “This terrible event could have been – and should have been – prevented.”
Reflecting on the inquiry report, the parents of C1 told the ECHO: “The report is sobering. We have participated in the Inquiry over the last twelve months, so whilst the contents of the report are not shocking to us today, it is still devastating and crushing to see it brought together in its totality.
“It continues to be difficult to come to terms with, particularly the chronology of the day and the experience our daughter had laid out in black and white.
“Over the last eighteen months, alongside her recovery, we face a daily battle to help our daughter re-establish her sense of safety. To reassure her that the ‘grown-ups’ are taking control and that she is now safe to heal and move forward with her trauma. Implementing the sixty-seven recommendations within the phase one report is vital for her ongoing psychological recovery and physical sense of safety.”
They added: “As she grows up, she will come to understand the level of failures that led to what happened – and that it was entirely preventable. She, and other survivors will expect to see change. And we want to be able to say, years from now, when she is old enough to have these conversations – that change happened and her experience was not for nothing.
“She will want to see that the promise to ‘draw a line in the sand’ was sincere and that she can rebuild her life in a community that is safer than the one that failed her.”
Speaking about their incredibly powerful testimony, delivered to the inquiry last July, the parents added: “We have always wanted our daughter’s experience to be understood and acknowledged by the Inquiry, and we have always wanted the public information shared about her to be accurate.
“It was a difficult decision to give our statement last July, but it was important to ensure that this Inquiry understood the devastating consequences on the survivors, too.
“We particularly wanted to highlight the bravery and untold heroism of our daughter. In the months prior to the statement many adults from that day had shared their own experiences publicly and we felt, oftentimes that the bravery and determination of those girls, was diluted, or spoken over, because they were anonymous.
“Our daughter walked from that building, twice, when no adults were present. Her actions protected others and saved her own life. We continue to believe that those experiences must be given space alongside the experience of others.
“Our daughter’s anonymity is extremely important to her recovery and something we have been grateful for; but it must not make her invisible.”
The parents say the survivors of the attack must be given space to talk openly about their experiences – not only for the wider impact on the inquiry but for their own healing as well.
They added: “We are acutely aware that guilt and shame are often closely connected to the experiences of trauma in survivors, and it is so important to us that our daughter grows up to feel proud of her actions that day, not guilt, or shame. We want her to feel safe to talk openly about what happened to her, if she chooses to in the future.
“By speaking at the Inquiry and sharing our experience we hope to have made that space for her. Supporting her through her ongoing recovery and giving her ownership of her own story remains our priority.”
Speaking about their daughter’s recovery from that fateful day when she suffered such traumatic injuries, her parents said: “She is doing incredibly well given her level of injury. We are constantly in awe of her. We move forward with baby steps and try to find the glimmers in even the smallest achievements. She was seven years old at the time of the attack, and so her experience of that trauma and how she feels is changing as she grows up.
“Each day brings different challenges, and some days are more difficult than others. She continues to need a high level of support and scaffolding to go about a normal day – but she does so with great determination, strength and a brilliant sense of humour. She is light.”
Over the last year the young girl has created a fundraising campaign, aimed at raising £50,000 for Alder Hey Hospital, who gave her such vital care after the attack. Having inspired family and friends to run marathons, take part in sky dives and host other events and activities – her campaign has already raised an incredible £35,000.
The proud couple added: “It is a privilege to be her parents, and we are incredibly proud of what she manages to achieve daily.”
They explained how their daughter has also started to develop a strong bond with some of the other survivors.
They added: “They are able to understand each other in a way that we as parents we could never really do. Recently, supported by a local charity, some of the girls who were physically injured in the attack came together for the very first time.
“They took part in a Pilates class, to help with their ongoing physical recovery and needs. It was incredibly emotional and special to bring them together and it took an enormous amount of planning to make them feel safe and comfortable enough to attend with their mums.
“We hope these moments will create a healing environment where they feel safe enough to talk about their experiences and support each other. Many of our girls live with ongoing difficulties and challenges, and we hope that their bond will carry them through difficult days as they get older. We hope that more opportunities to bring them together can be organised for them.
“It has also created a space for some of the parents to come together too. It has been a quiet lifeline to be able to talk about our own experiences with families who understand. We are incredibly grateful to have them by our side.”
