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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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.
Crowds gather for vigil honouring victims of London Bridge attack
Show all 8The 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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Christine Archibald, 30, was hit by the van and dragged along the bridge towards a central reservation before being run over, the court hears
The Canadian national was in the UK visiting her fiance, Tyler Ferguson. They had been engaged since February 2017 and had made plans to marry in the autumn of 2016 in Canada
Christine arrived in UK on 1 June and was due to leave the day after the attack. Her fiance was in London on a short business trip at the time.
Judge Lucraft said that because of the impact of the crash, debris crashed down onto people below and caused serious injury
The three attackers "started attacking people as soon as they got out of the van"
Sara Zelenak, 21, was stabbed multiple times while on nearby steps that go up to the bridge. The Australian national was working as an au pair in London and had come to the UK in March 2017 and started work in May. She was planning to travel to Europe to meet her family later in June
Sebastien Belanger, 36, was "cornered by all three attackers" at the bottom of stairs by Borough Bistro
He appears to have fought back but was "stabbed many times and sustained horrific injuries" before collapsing
The French national was a chef and had a girlfriend
Alexandre Pigeard, 26, also "suffered horrific injuries" after being stabbed by Khuram Butt
The French national had been in the UK since September 2016 and was living in south-east London while working as a waiter at Borough Bistro. He had a girlfriend
Kirsty Boden, 28, was in Borough Bistro with friends and as a nurse, left the restaurant to help after hearing the sound of the crash
Butt "made a swinging motion" towards her in the seating area and the other two attacked her. Ms Boden ran to an alleyway to escape but died there of her injuries.
The Australian national was a senior staff nurse at St Thomas's NHS Trust and had a partner
James McMullan, 32, had been watching the football at the Barrowboy and Banker. He was found in an alleyway near Borough Bistro
He was a dual British-Phillipines national and lived and worked in London
The first police officers on the scene were British Transport Police officers stationed nearby, the court hears
The three attackers made their way back up the stone stairs and stabbed three more members of the public, including a man in the back and a woman who was attacked on the ground
Two police officers sought to stop the attack and ran into the assault, being attacked themselves
Ignacio Echeverria, 39, joined the two police officers and hit the attackers with his skateboard - striking Zaghba and possibly the ringleader Khuram Butt
"In the course of doing what he did, he was fatally stabbed outside the Lobos restaurant," Judge Lucraft said. The woman he was defending as she was attacked on the ground, Marie, survived
The Spanish national worked in financial crime at HSBC and lived in London
The attackers jogged on and stabbed several more people, leaving them with serious and life-changing wounds
The court has risen for a one minutes' silence, including families of the victims and Metropolitan Police commissioner Cressida Dick and assistant commissioner Neil Basu, the head of UK terror policing
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