Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism – A survivor of the 2019 mosque shootings is walking from Dunedin to Christchurch to reclaim the terrorist’s path in the name of peace.
Temel Atacocugu is one of those receiving ongoing treatment after he was shot nine times in the Christchurch mosque attacks earlier this year.Temel Atacocugu needed a lengthy stay in two hospitals after the injuries he received after being shot at Al Noor Mosque.
Temel Atacocugu was praying at Al Noor Mosque on 15 March 2019 when the terror attacks unfolded.
He was shot nine times.
Earlier that day the terrorist who carried out the attacks left his rented flat in Dunedin and drove to Christchurch to attack worshippers at Jumu’ah – Friday prayers.
The then-28-year-old Australian murdered 51 worshippers and shot and injured 40 others.
Now Atacocugu, a victim of that deadly day, will retrace the path of the killer over the next fortnight to reclaim peace.
He will leave the Octagon in Dunedin tomorrow afternoon and walk the more than 350 kilometres to Christchurch’s Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre.
He will arrive in the Garden City on 15 March to commemorate the third anniversary of the attacks.
As part of the walk he is raising money for the Key to Life Charitable Trust, the Child Cancer Foundation and Save the Children.
