In a moving speech held at NSW Parliament House in Sydney to launch The Louisa Hope Nursing Fund with the Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation, Louisa Hope, 50, paid tribute to Tori before sharing her incredible story of survival.
Louisa was brave, poised and confident as she addressed an audience of more than 100 people, including the police commissioner Andrew Scipione, premier Mike Baird, 60 Minutes reporter Liz Hayes and fellow survivor Jarrod Hoffman.
“Not a single one of us is not affected. We cannot let fear fester in our hearts. The first night in hospital, the man with a gun was dead but I still felt afraid. I refuse to indulge [the fear]. There’s no time for that,” she explained of the traumatic ordeal, which saw 18 hostages at the hands of gunman Man Haron Monis at the Lindt Café in Martin Place on December 16.
Tragically both Tori Johnson and local barrister Katrina Dawson passed away and Australia has been left reeling ever since.
Speaking of the new national landscape since that fateful day, Louisa said: “We aren’t the same Australia that we were. So what are we going to do with that?”
Despite her heartache, Ms Hope remains positive about the future.
“Friends after surgery told me about the flowers in Sydney [at Martin Place]. It lifted my spirits. We live in a multicultural society. I’m grateful for that,” she told the packed out room.
Powerful words: “We aren’t the same Australia that we were. So what are we going to do with that?”
After weeks in hospital recovering from a gun wound to the foot Louisa, who was stuck in the cafe with her 75-year old mother Robyn Hope, is speaking out to thank the medical team that helped her recover.
“Our nurses are so well trained, so well educated. [The] world’s best. I’m not here today without the nurses,” she mused.
Before adding: “I was blessed with an amazing opportunity after the siege, and even if my heart is in grief, you cannot miss seizing the day. My life was spared by the grace of God. And there by the grace of God go you. There we were and there you could have been also, so let’s rise up together.”
Woman’s Day were lucky enough to be in the audience and were truly moved by the 52-year-old’s powerful words. Speaking from the heart and without the aid of notes the atmosphere was palpable as Louisa captivated the crowd with her story.
Taking to the podium shortly after, premier Mike Baird revealed how inspired he was by Louisa.
“When I met her, there wasn’t any sense of anger. There was a sense of how I can make a difference. If only there were more Louisas in this world. Thank you for your courage, your willingness to share and your compassion for others,” he said.
Louisa has paid tribute to Lindt cafe manager on what would have been his 35th birthday
