Donations allow terror attack victim to install new patio

Brett Freeman, from Aveley, suffered puncture wounds to his lungs after he was stabbed four times in the back by one of the terrorists during the attack on London Bridge back in June this year.

Following this attack, Brett's auntie, Katie Sutton, put out an appeal through the Gazette asking for donations so that they could make his family home ready for him upon his return from hospital.

Following this appeal, local companies came forward and made generous donations and, four months after the appeal was made, Brett's family home now has a new patio - which will provide a safer environment for his children to play in.

In order to acheive this, staff at the Ford Motor Company in Dagenham came for one week to complete all of the manual work in the garden and to dig the foundations to the patio.

Sharp Skips provided several free skips to take away all of the rubbish from the garden.

South Essex Sand and Gravel provided several deliveries of sand and cement for the preparation and laying of the patio slabs, and CED natural stone suppliers kindly donated the top quality patio slabs to finish the patio to the highest of standards.

Brett and his fiance, Amy Sanders, voiced their gratitude for these "amazing companies" and his auntie, Katie, who they say was "at the heart of the organisation of the project."

Amy added: "From the bottom of our hearts we would like to say a huge thankyou to all the companies that made generous donations to help us have a safe place for our children to play.

"It has been overwhelmingly heart-warming to think how many lovely people there are in this world, many of which did not know us and were willing to help us at what was the most difficult time in our lives.

"There were three very bad people at the forefront of the terror attack that day, but humanity, resilience and kindness shines through in these amazing people and they will always have a special place in our hearts."