The fiance of an Australian nurse slain during the 2017 London Bridge attack has paid tribute to his former partner, who if still alive would have been trying to "save as many lives as possible" during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Kirsty Boden, 28, was remembered along with fellow Australian Sara Zelenak, 21, and six others who were killed in the attacks exactly three years ago, on the night of June 3, 2017.
Boden's fiance James Hodder paid tribute to the South Australian nurse at a special virtual service organised by Southwark Cathedral in London on Wednesday.
"Despite the fact that three years have gone by our love, sadness, joy and so many other emotions that we have when we think of Kirsty have not diminished, not one iota," he said.
"I cannot believe it has been three years since I kissed Kirsty goodbye for the last time and got to see that beautiful smile.
"We all miss her so much and despite my best efforts, the world seems like a much darker place without her, especially at the moment when I know as a nurse she would be doing everything in her power to save as many lives as possible during this horrible pandemic."
Ms Boden was having dinner with friends and left the relative safety of a restaurant to help a stabbing victim but was herself fatally stabbed as she knelt over the wounded man.
Her workplace Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust paid tribute to the Australian and other victims by lighting candles for Wednesday's service.
Ms Zelenak's mother Julie Wallace, who founded a holistic trauma healing centre named Sarz Sanctuary, also remembered her daughter on Wednesday.
"Thank you beautiful Sarz Sanctuary supporters on Sarz's 3rd anniversary I'm holding my angel daughter's hand and together we are truly grateful for all the love and kindness we have received on this special day," she wrote on Facebook.
Attackers Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba used a van to run down dozens of pedestrians on the bridge before stabbing others with kitchen knives in the nearby Borough Market.
The men were eventually shot by police.
Ms Zelenak, of Queensland, had made a last-minute decision to go out in the London Bridge area and was the first to be fatally stabbed by the men.
Canadian Christine Archibald, 30; Frenchmen Xavier Thomas, 45, Sebastian Belanger, 36, and Alexandre Pigeard, 26; Briton James McMullan, 32; and Spaniard Ignacio Echeverria, 39, were killed along with the Australians.
The Metropolitan Police and London Mayor Sadiq Khan paid tribute to the victims.
"My thoughts are with the families and friends who lost loved ones in this awful attack, and who are having to adjust to grieving in very different and difficult circumstances this year," Mr Khan said.
Australian Associated Press
