A presenter on The Project, who recently gave birth to her first child, burst into tears on air as she spoke about the horrific stabbing massacre in a Sydney shopping centre.
Joel Cauchi, 40, killed six people and injured a dozen more when he stormed Westfield Bondi Junction on Saturday afternoon armed with a 30cm hunting knife. He was eventually shot dead by a police officer.
Among the victims was osteopath Ashlee Good, 38, and her nine-month-old baby. Sadly, Dr. Good died when she arrived at the hospital and her daughter remains in intensive care.
Rachell Corbett, speaking on Sunday’s episode, became emotional and said: “It’s very difficult to do shows on nights like this.”
“Never in this country do we go to the stores and think that something like this could happen,” he said.
‘When you wander around a shopping center you feel 100 percent safe.
“I can’t stop thinking about that poor baby and the father who now doesn’t have his partner… It’s very, very difficult.”
Rachell Corbett, who recently gave birth to her first child, broke down in tears as she spoke about the stabbing massacre at a Sydney shopping centre.
Ms Corbett (pictured while pregnant) took time off from the show last year to give birth to her first child, whom she is raising as a single mother.
Corbett briefly left The Project panel last year to give birth to her first child and revealed that she will raise her daughter as a single mother.
The show’s other presenters also expressed their distress at the incident which Sarah Harris described as “an hour of madness”.
Dr Good is believed to have been one of the first to be attacked during the horrific incident which shocked Australia and the world.
The desperate mother handed her daughter over to a stranger while she and her daughter were stabbed.
The man who took the baby and his brother used used clothes from a store to try to stop the baby’s bleeding.
“The baby was stabbed and, yes, the mother was stabbed,” the man told 9News.
“The mother came up with the baby and threw it at me.
“I just helped by holding the baby… and trying to compress him.”
The brothers stayed with the mother and called emergency services.
“(It was) very bad… a lot of blood on the floor… I hope the baby is okay,” the other brother said.
Good’s family said in a statement that they are “recovering from the terrible loss of Ashlee” and remembered her as “a beautiful mother, daughter, sister, partner, friend, an exceptional person in every way and so much more.”
“We appreciate the good wishes and thoughts from members of the Australian public who have expressed great love for Ashlee and our baby girl,” the statement read.
‘We are very grateful for the expert care and attention of the medical team at Sydney Children’s Hospital.
‘We would also like to thank the New South Wales Police for their kindness and diligence in this tragedy and the emergency services for getting our baby the care he needed as quickly as possible.
“To the two men who held and cared for our baby when Ashlee couldn’t, words cannot express our gratitude.”
Ashlee Good (pictured) desperately handed her daughter to a stranger as she and her son were stabbed.
Cauchi (pictured during the attack) killed six shoppers and injured several others, including Ms Good’s son, before being shot dead by a police officer.
Four other victims of the attack have since been identified: advertising heiress Dawn Singleton, 25, security guard Faraz Tahir, 30, mother-of-two and architect Jade Young, 47, and artist Pikria Darchia, 55 years old.
WhatsNew2Day Australia understands Saturday was Tahir’s first week in office, but he fought heroically to protect shoppers from Cauchi’s rampage.
He emigrated to Australia last year, fleeing persecution in Pakistan and is just one of many Australians who have been hailed as heroes for their efforts during the incident.
They include the police officer who shot and killed Cauchi, Inspector Amy Scott, a man who kept the killer at bay with a bollard, Damien Guerot and lifeguard Andrew Reid who provided first aid to the injured.
Co-host Hamish MacDonald added that “in that short period of time we saw the worst of what society is capable of, but also the best.”
