Leanne Lucas was one of 13 children and adults attacked in Monday’s Southport tragedy
Leanne Lucas bravely bent over two schoolgirls in a bid to save their lives, it’s been reported. The yoga teacher is said to have pushed others into a cupboard to stop them being harmed in Monday’s tragedy in Southport.
A family member of the dance teacher said she had been stabbed in the back, arms and neck as she attempted to save the children who had been attending her Taylor Swift dance class. Leanne’s cousin, Chris Rimmer told The Times how Leanne bent over two children to protect them from the attacker.
Following concerns for the dance teacher, her family have now reported she is awake after undergoing life-saving surgery. They have told how she sounded “broken” when speaking to loved ones on the phone. Mr Rimmer, 41, told the paper his cousin had woken up from her surgery but “doesn’t remember anything” about the harrowing events. The family have reportedly pieced together a sequence of events from accounts given by first responders at the scene.
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Alice Aguiar, nine, Bebe King, six, and Elsie Stancombe, seven, were killed in the horrific attack in at the dance class in Hart Street, and at least two children remain in a critical but stable condition at Alder Hey hospital. Two adults were also critically injured.
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Friends in the ambulance service described to Mr Rimmer how his cousin pushed two people into a storage room, saving their lives, and “bent over two little girls” as the attacker rained down blows. Mr Rimmer said: “She put her arms up, all her arms are cut.”
A former pupil of Leanne described the children’s yoga teacher as “like a best friend to all of us.” The 35-year-old, who manages Enlighten with Leanne, had reportedly planned the two-hour Taylor Swift session to coincide with the school holidays.
Annabelle Gillett spoke to the ECHO about her former teacher and the “amazing” impact she has had on her life. Annabelle, 14, was with her mum Danielle at Tuesday evening’s vigil at the Atkinson Art Centre on Lord Street in Southport. Leanne was Annabelle’s Year 3 teacher at primary school.
The schoolgirl spoke in glowing terms about Leanne, describing her as a “kind and amazing person and a fantastic teacher”. Annabelle and her mum said they were “really worried” about her, as well as the other people injured in the attack. Annabelle said: “She was just amazing as a teacher – she was like a best friend to all of us. When she left the whole class bawled our eyes out.
She continued: “I’ve still got one of the teddies she gave me once on a field trip. She even stayed in touch after she left and gave us video calls to check in on us. To put herself in danger to help other people does sound just like her – just knowing how kind and gentle she was with us I can imagine it.”
Mr Rimmer said Leanne’s family phoned her on Tuesday following her surgery. Describing his cousin as a “top girl” and “amazing,” he said: “She was just worried about everyone else, I don’t think she’s worried about herself. She’s not self-conscious, if that makes sense. She always thinks about everyone else before herself.”
He added the hardest part for the family is the lack of news they’ve received about her, he said: “Everyone thinks we’re getting told things but we’re not. We’re just sat here waiting like everyone else. We got told she’d passed away, it was all over Facebook. Someone put it up with a picture of the three little girls. But as far as we know her surgery went well.”
He continued: “The family is feeling a bit better having spoken to her. I think she was due for another examination today, another operation, but not as bad.” Chris attended the vigil for the victims in Southport on Tuesday night, he described the event as “good “and “nice to see.” He said that the family was shocked however by the scenes of violence that unfolded less than two hours later.
