PARENTS’ £4.5M CHARITY FOR LONDON BRIDGE VICTIM

A LONDON Bridge attack victim’s parents have turned the death of their daughter into a beacon of hope and strength for others.

Julie and Mark Wallace have launched a charity in 21-year-old Australian Sara Zelenak’s name.

And they aim to raise £4.5million to open a treatment centre which will help bereaved relatives rebuild their lives after similar losses.

Julie, 51, says their ambitious Sarz Sanctuary dream has given her family a sense of purpose after the terrorist attack that blew their world apart 14 months ago.

“Setting up the charity has really helped with my healing,” says personal trainer Julie. “If I didn’t have this I think it would be worse.

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mum she was a nanny for rang to say she hadn’t come home. From there panic took hold.”

A mix-up over dental records meant Mark and Julie flew to England believing Sara to be one of the 49 injured.

But just as their plane touched down at Heathrow, Scott rang his mum to tell her a DNA test had confirmed Sara was dead. “It was the worst nightmare a parent can ever have,” says Julie. “I cried hysterically.”

Police officers met the couple as they left the plane and took them to the spot where Sara died. Mark says: “We were in shock for four or five weeks.” In the months that followed, both struggled with their grief. But they refused anti-depressants, and turned to alternative medicine, exercise, and mindfulness – which they now want to offer at Sara’s centre.

They enlisted the help of Met policemen Jim Galvin and Rob Gehring – the officers who met them off the plane – to help raise funds for a Sarz Sanctuary in Australia. They hope to branch out to the UK.

Mark and Julie did a sponsored bike ride from London to Paris, arriving a year to the day after they were meant to meet Sara.

Mark says: “After losing Sara in such a horrendous way, we now want to dedicate our lives to supporting others. Our focus isn’t on terrorism. We are focused on Sarz Sanctuary and giving back to people.”