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Family share tribute to the youngest victim of the Bourke Street rampage: three-month-old baby Zachary.

Last week the parents of victims, Zachary and Zara, issued photos and a statement, via the Royal Children’s Hospital.

“On 20th January a man drove through Melbourne city killing and hurting people including our two-year-old toddler Zara and our three-month-old son, Zachary.

Our beautiful Zara is in a stable condition, however Zachary, our son, did not survive.

He was the most beautiful, loving, happy, and perfect little baby we were so lucky to be gifted with. He was the light of our lives constantly filling our days with smiles and laughs. He leaves us with the best three months and 14 days of wonderful memories spent in this world.

Zac, Mummy and Daddy love you very much, and always will.

We want to thank everyone who has helped us, comforted us and grieved with us. Your kind words really mean the world to us. We ask you to keep us and Zara in your prayers.

Finally, as we mourn our beautiful Zachary, we ask the media to respect our privacy at this difficult time.”

– Matthew and Nawwar Bryant

UPDATE 31 January 2017

This week Mum, Nawwar, shares how difficult life is without her baby boy.

She shared on Facebook, “Day 2 of being home and it isn’t getting any easier – yet.

I know in time, it will, but right now we are just missing our beautiful Zachary so much.

Every move I make, every corner of the house and every sight we pass by reminds me of my child. Memories of him are so deeply etched in my mind I automatically connect something I see to a memory of him.

We visited the Memorial sites this morning. Amidst all this sadness I feel so grateful to know there is so much love and kindness all around us.I feel for parents who have lost their children, especially in war-torn countries, and feel extremely lucky to have all this support where I am.

A photo of Zac is at every site we visited accompanied with numerous words of love and wishes of heartfelt condolences. We can choose to look at what we want to see and feel. I choose love, kindness and compassion.I feel I need these to heal and not anything else.

To remember my son touched so many lives and even though for a moment in this world, he did so much. He exuded so much love. Even more than I could have ever done. He may not be physically in my arms anymore but besides photos and memories I will always remember him by wearing his birth scars on my body as badges of honour to have given birth to such an angel.

Below I share the words I spoke when delivering his eulogy on the night of his burial. The words I need to always remind myself of, when I am sad and broken.

I can’t thank enough every single person who has reached out to me. I feel your sadness and appreciate your love.

Besides Zac and all the other victims, this eulogy is also dedicated to you and anyone who has lost a child.

Watching it again, I wonder, along with many others that night, where I got all the strength to speak. I think I was just so honored to have him in my life and the love I have for him and Allah swt helped me through.

Matt delivered a beautiful eulogy for our son too but in respect to his privacy I have only shared mine. I hope my words will help you in the best ways possible to overcome your sadness and fill your heart with love too. My love to you always.”

Our thoughts are with family and all involved.

If you want to help the victims you can find all the details here. 

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  • It broke my heart when I heard what had happened. My deepest sympathy on the loss of gorgeous Zachary and my wishes for a speedy recovery for Zara.

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  • This should never have happened – the police must be allowed to do their job and the softly, softly approach abandoned.

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  • Lets hope Zara makes a full recovery and has no memory of what happened.
    She is old enough to have nightmares or night terrors as they sometimes called by Medical Practitioners when referring to toddlers

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  • What a beautiful little darling.
    Prayers of strength and healing for Zara.

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  • Such a sweet little boy. How terrible for his family.
    I hope that man will pay for what he did to all these innocent people. :-(

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  • My thoughts with the family – so heartbreaking.

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  • My heart breaks for this family. I think and reflect on what I was doing when my baby was 3 months old and think how I would feel if my baby was taken away so soon.

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  • Oh my god, I have no words. Such a senseless waste of beautiful young lives. The pain this couple must be in and will endure forever. I hope the media listens and respects their privacy at this horrendous time

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  • My heart is absolutely aching for these parents.
    They are now living through one of my greatest fears and I can’t even begin to imagine the intensity of the pain they are experiencing.
    I know that no words will ever make it easier or undo what has happened but my family send all of our love, prayers and support.
    We don’t know you personally but your family is always in our thoughts and as parents, we have cried for your family over the last 4 days.
    We hope for healing for your family and a fast and full recovery for your beautiful daughter
    <3

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  • Aw bless !!
    My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families involved in this incident, especially those who lost loved ones !

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  • There are no words just great sadness. His light will always shine brightly over you. God Bless you all through this unimaginable tragedy

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  • This breaks my heart. We go into the city always during the holidays and because we are away we weren’t there. My heart goes out to the family. The little angel is in peace.

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  • Devastating,my heart breaks for the ones that loved them xx

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  • My thoughts are with this families and all the families and people who are having to deal with this. Hope their little girl has a speedy recovery.

    Reply

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