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‘I’m proud of what we’ve created for the people we lost’
Martin Bentham and Benedict Moore-Bridger3 Jul 2009
A woman bereaved by the 7/7 bombings today spoke of her pride and emotion as final preparations were completed in Hyde Park for the unveiling.
Saba Mozakka, whose 47-year-old mother Behnaz died in the Piccadilly line blast between King's Cross and Russell Square, is one of five of the victims' relatives who have overseen the creation of the monument.
Today, Ms Mozakka, 28, described the mixture of upset and pleasure which the creation of the memorial — 52 three-metre high stainless steel pillars on a site in the park between Lovers' Walk and Park Lane — had given her.
“It's a very powerful memorial and I am immensely proud at what we have been able to create for the people who we loved and lost,” she said.
“We are all different types of families — different ages, classes, religions, people from all over the world — so we're very pleased that we've managed to produce something that reflects that.
“We felt that the events of 7 July needed a memorial in the centre of London to give Londoners and the country a place to remember such a barbaric act of violence.”
Ms Mozakka, who lives in north London, said the design and construction of the memorial, which she helped oversee as part of a committee including other victims' relatives, government officials and the architects, had been both therapeutic and traumatic.She continued: “Emotionally I did really struggle. There were meetings where I was sitting there thinking that I would give anything not to be here and wishing that I could wake up and find that it was all a bad dream.”
Ms Mozakka said she believed the site in Hyde Park should also be a place of happiness.
She added: “We don't want it to be just sad and gloomy. Hyde Park is such an exciting, vibrant, young and fun-filled place and we also want the memorial to be part of that.”
The formal unveiling on Tuesday's fourth anniversary of the bombings will be attended by members of the victims' families and survivors of the attacks.
The minister for London, Tessa Jowell, and members of the emergency services will also be there. Meanwhile, the former boyfriend of a woman killed in the attacks has established an organisation to help victims of trauma.
Raj Babbra, 32, set up the Life With Loss website after making a film about his ex-girlfriend, Benedetta Ciaccia, who died in the Aldgate bombing.
The film, 7/7: Life Without Benedetta, documents her life and the pain of losing her, and also includes interviews with survivors and rescue workers. A rough version premiered last year.
He said: “Life With Loss is inspired by my own experience. The organisation was set up so that if people want to do something positive and help somehow they can get involved in the network.”
www.lifewithloss.org
