The parents of 10-year-old Matilda, the youngest victim of the Bondi massacre, have spoken publicly for the first time about the moment their lives were shattered, describing a loss that words can scarcely hold.
“I couldn’t imagine I would lose my daughter here,” Valentyna told the 1000-strong crowd gathered at the Bondi Beach vigil.
The family of 10-year-old Matilda, who died during Sunday’s terrorist attack, at the Bondi Beach memorial.Credit: James Brickwood
“I can’t imagine what is a monster that stands on that bridge, and seeing a little girl running for her father to hide with him, and… and he just pulled the trigger on her… it wasn’t an accident, it wasn’t just a bullet, fired from a hill,” she said, before breaking down.
Valentyna gestured to her heart and said: “It stays here, just stays here and here”.
Valentyna and Michael (surnames have been withheld) came to Australia as Ukraine immigrants before the invasion by Russia.
“We came here from the Ukraine … and I named her Matilda because she was our firstborn in Australia. And I thought that Matilda was the most Australian name that could ever exist,” he said, clutching a framed photograph of his daughter.
“So just remember – remember her name.”
He then broke down and turned to his wife and son.