THE heartbroken father who lost his daughter in the Bourke St massacre is running between hospitals where his injured wife and another daughter are fighting for their own lives.
Tony Hakin was focused on simply getting through the day as he dealt with the loss of 10-year-old Thalia, Rabbi Yehoshua Smukler told news.com.au
Rabbi Smukler is the principal of Beth Rivkah College and has met all four family members — and worries about the long-term impacts last week’s tragedy would have on them.
Mother Nathalie remains critically ill in hospital, while nine-year-old Maggie was also seriously injured.
They were with Thalia at Bourke St Mall when Dimitrious Gargasoulas, 26, allegedly mowed them and dozens of others down. Thalia and four others were killed.
“They were just enjoying the school holidays,” Rabbi Smukler said on Monday, as Gargasoulas was released from hospital and taken to police station by homicide squad detectives.
The incident had affected the entire country and while there had been an “outpouring of grief and people coming together” he suspected the future for the Hakin family would be very tough.
Read the full article by Andrew Koubaridis at the Geelong Advertiser.