Siege survivor Julie Taylor tells of heartbreak over losing best friend | Australia news | The GuardianSiege survivor Julie Taylor tells of heartbreak over losing best friend | Australia news | The Guardian










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Sydney siege



Siege survivor Julie Taylor tells of heartbreak over loss of Katrina Dawson









The 35-year-old barrister, who is 20 weeks pregnant, says the public outpouring of grief has given her strength after the ordeal in which her colleague Katrina Dawson and the ‘courageous’ cafe manager, Tori Johnson, were killed

















A man arrives with a bunch of flowers in Martin Place in Sydney on Thursday. Tens of thousands of people have laid floral tributes to the two victims. Photograph: Nikki Short/AAP




Melissa Davey






@MelissaLDavey





Thursday 18 December 2014 21.24 EST







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The Sydney siege survivor Julie Taylor has spoken of her heartbreak at losing her best friend and barrister colleague Katrina Dawson in the Lindt cafe attack.
Dawson, a 38-year-old barrister and mother of three, was killed along with Tori Johnson, the 34-year-old manager of the cafe, after being taken hostage by Man Haron Monis.
Taylor, 35, who worked with Dawson at the law firm Eight Selborne chambers in Martin Place, said her friend was “the most wonderful person I have ever met”. 
“She was my closest friend, a role model and confidant,” she said in a statement. “Her bravery and strength was, and continues to be, a comfort and inspiration for me. 



Barrister Julie Taylor.
Photograph: Eight Selborne Chambers


“She invested every moment of her life in her friends and family, and will be greatly missed by everyone who has known her. My thoughts and sympathy are with her family, whom I have come to know and love.”
Three members of the chambers were held hostage in the cafe, according to a statement from the New South Wales Bar Association. Taylor, who is almost 20 weeks pregnant, was forced to appear in one of the propaganda videos made by the gunman during the siege.
Taylor described how Johnson was level-headed and courageous throughout the ordeal, which began Monday morning and lasted more than 16 hours. She expressed her sympathy to his family, and thanked the other hostages for their support.
“Although our acquaintance was forged under the worst imaginable circumstances, I feel privileged to have known you and I will always remember you as a kind, considerate, level-headed and courageous person,” Taylor said of Johnson. 
“It was clear to me how much you loved your family, and how much compassion you had for everyone you met. I am grateful that you were with me throughout our ordeal.” 
Seeing the sea of flowers at Martin Place had provided her with strength, she said, and she thanked the public for their messages of support, which had made a difficult time more bearable. Taylor said she was grateful to the paramedics and hospital staff.
She said she and her husband had been told that their unborn baby was healthy and unharmed.
“If all goes well, and there is no reason to think that it won’t, we will give birth to a precious baby in a few months,” she said. “Although it is an emotional time, we are trying to focus on keeping ourselves healthy so that can occur.”



Topics



Sydney siege




Sydney




New South Wales




Crime - Australia




Australian security and counter-terrorism








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more on this story














Sydney siege: Australian PM Tony Abbott warns of rise in 'terrorist chatter' - video

Australian prime minister Tony Abbott warns of a rise in 'terrorist chatter' in the aftermath of the cafe siege in Sydney



Published: 23 Dec 2014




Sydney siege: Australian PM Tony Abbott warns of rise in 'terrorist chatter' - video












Sydney siege victims Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson mourned at memorial services

Survivors of Martin Place Lindt cafe siege join victims’ families and NSW premier, governor and police commissioner at memorial services



Published: 22 Dec 2014




Sydney siege victims Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson mourned at memorial services












Sydney siege floral tributes to be removed before wet weather hits city

Flowers will be mulched and used in a memorial to be established in consultation with the families of the victims of the Lindt cafe attack in Martin Place



Published: 22 Dec 2014




Sydney siege floral tributes to be removed before wet weather hits city












Sydney siege: videos show gunman's wife a risk to public, say prosecutors

Amirah Droudis faces a bid to revoke her bail pending her trial over the killing of Man Haron Monis’s former wife



Published: 21 Dec 2014




Sydney siege: videos show gunman's wife a risk to public, say prosecutors














Partner of Sydney siege gunman arrives at court - video




Published: 22 Dec 2014




Partner of Sydney siege gunman arrives at court - video








Man Haron Monis lawyers and judges receive death threats and other abuse




Published: 18 Dec 2014




Man Haron Monis lawyers and judges receive death threats and other abuse








On guns, David Leyonhjelm is neither a champion nor a villain. He's a libertarian

Eleanor Robertson




Published: 18 Dec 2014







On guns, David Leyonhjelm is neither a champion nor a villain. He's a libertarian








John Howard rejects David Leyonhjelm's call to relax gun laws as simplistic and flawed




Published: 17 Dec 2014




John Howard rejects David Leyonhjelm's call to relax gun laws as simplistic and flawed
















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