For many new mums, the local shopping centre is a place of safety – and community – at a time when they might feel most alone.
Westfield Bondi Junction, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, should have been that sanctuary for Ashlee Good and her nine-month-old daughter on Saturday afternoon.
Instead, the 38-year-old’s life was senselessly ripped from her in one of the worst mass killings Australia has ever seen.
About 3.30pm, Queensland man Joel Cauchi went on a stabbing rampage at the busy shopping centre, attacking at least 17 people – six of whom, including Ms Good, died. After “hours” of surgery, Ms Good’s baby daughter, who was also stabbed, is “doing well”, her family said in an update on Sunday.
Amid the outpouring of grief on social media in the wake of the tragedy, one heartbreaking sentiment has cut through the rest: that for any new mum, like Ms Good, who has sought a bit of comfort or company inside their shopping centre, this just as easily could have been them.
“I spent two hours wandering around Westfield Bondi Junction while my daughter slept the other day, a safe and comfortable place for a new mum,” Sydney court reporter Kelly Fedor wrote on X.
“Can’t stop thinking about another mother and baby who thought the same, only to be attacked today.”
“New Mum...
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