Westminster Attack Victim Melissa Cochran Returns Home To US

Westminster Attack Victim Melissa Cochran Returns Home To US
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The injured wife of a man killed in the Westminster terror attack has returned home to the United States.

Melissa Cochran had been visiting London from Utah with her husband Kurt, 54, to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary when they were caught in the carnage on Westminster Bridge.

Her brother Clint Payne has since said doctors cleared his sibling to fly back home to the Salt Lake City suburb of West Bountiful last week, and revealed that she is healing faster than expected.

During the 82-second atrocity on March 22, Kent-born Khalid Masood drove a rental car into unsuspecting pedestrians before fatally stabbing Pc Keith Palmer, 48, in the Palace of Westminster's forecourt.

Mrs Cochran, 46, suffered a broken leg and rib and a cut to her head during the attack, while her husband died after being thrown from the bridge.

Three others, retired window cleaner Leslie Rhodes, 75, Aysha Frade, 44, and Romanian tourist Andreea Cristea, 31, also died as a result of Masood's murderous rampage.

On April 5 Mrs Cochran, who attended in a wheelchair, joined the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry at a service for the families and survivors of the attack, held at Westminster Abbey.

In an interview with the BBC she described her husband as the "love of my life", and said she does not feel "any ill will" towards Masood.

"I don't know what he was feeling or thinking or anything that had been going on in his life so I can't relate," she said.

"I just know that unfortunately he didn't have the qualities and the beautiful heart that my husband had so I actually kind of feel a little sorry for him and no hate."

Masood, who had a history of violent crime, was shot dead by armed police after knifing Pc Palmer.