Sydney terrorism victim Adelaide Stratton honoured following Bastille Day 2016 attack
It was an act of pure evil when a terrorist carried out a Bastille Day 2016 attack in Nice, France, which saw 86 people killed. Sydney woman Adelaide Stratton, among the injured, has now been honoured and revealed the ‘extreme bravery and kindness’ of a hero who came to her aid.
IT was an act of pure evil when a terrorist drove a lorry into crowds, killing 86 people and leaving more than 430 injured, including northern beaches woman Adelaide Stratton.
The 25-year-old from Freshwater who received a medal for victims of terrorism from the French Ambassador earlier this month, refuses to dwell on the terrorist and what he did in Nice, France, on Bastille Day 2016.
She said she will never utter his name again and asked for it not to be included in this article.
Instead, what she chooses to take from the event is that there are good people in the world, willing to risk their lives for a stranger.
Ms Stratton’s very own hero on that terrible day was Patrick Sergent, now 60.
The Frenchman was running away from the scene when he spotted her bleeding and in distress on the footpath, just 70 metres from where the lorry had come to a stop.
She had life-changing injuries from severe facial and skull fractures, as well as burns to her leg.
Ms Stratton can’t remember being dragged along by the terrorist’s 19-tonne truck, but she does remember Mr Sergent comforting her and holding her hand.
He also shielded her from the view of the many dead bodies littered around her.
The paramedics were nearby but not allowed to get to the injured because there was a fear the truck was loaded with explosives. It turned out not to be the case.
Despite the risk to his own safety, Mr Sergent chose to stay by Ms Stratton’s side.
“He later told me that he made the decision to stay with me so if there were explosions I would not die alone,” she said.
Earlier this month the Frenchman received an Australian bravery award and on Monday Ms Stratton received an award in front of her 40 friends and family.
Ms Stratton and Mr Sergent’s lives will forever be linked by that moment on the bloody footpath.
“It was a moment of extreme bravery and kindness,” Ms Stratton said.
“I choose to concentrate on that rather than on the act of evil by the terrorist.
“It has helped me to get to the place I am today.
“It’s made me want to help people more.
“I believe there are so many more good people out there than there are evil.”
Ms Stratton, who moved to Freshwater with three friends several months ago, keeps in touch with Mr Sergent via Facebook and he even flew to Australia to visit her. She also saw him in France when she went back for the one-year memorial of the attack.
After he was told of the bravery medal, he wrote to her via Facebook to say that all that mattered to him was that she was doing well.
She is due to visit him again in July.
Ms Stratton, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, was unable to keep up with the demands of a career in TV production and is now a potter and pottery teacher.
She has called her business Happy to be Here Ceramics to reflect how she feels about life following the attack.
“Pottery is like a form of meditation for me, it stops me from thinking,” she said.
“I’m building up my own business based on my new philosophy.
“I am so happy that I have found something I can make a living from.”
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