By Abbey Cannan
The Noosa community has shared their heartbreaking tributes for a former Noosa osteopath who was among the six victims killed at a mass stabbing in Westfield Bondi Junction.
Mother Ashlee Good, 38, was attacked while shopping with her nine-month-old baby and died in hospital on Saturday 13 April.
After hours of emergency surgery, Ashlee’s baby Harriet has improved from a critical to serious but stable condition on Monday.
Her family said in a statement on Sunday, “Today we are reeling from the terrible loss of Ashlee, a beautiful mother, daughter, sister, partner, friend, all round outstanding human and so much more.”
From 2011, Ashlee was an associate at Noosa Osteopathy, established by Dr Skye Duncan.
“My heart sank when I read the paper early on Sunday morning and discovered Ash had tragically died the day before in Bondi Junction. It’s such a shocking heinous crime,” Skye said.
“Ash joined the Noosa Osteopathy team in late 2011 into 2012 covering my maternity leave and was a talented Osteopath and valued member of our family.
“We had many passionate conversations about health and fitness and her goals in life. Being a Mum was one of them.
“My fondest memories of Ash was her beaming smile and her zest for life.
“My heart goes out to her baby (Harriet) and my deepest sympathies go out to her family and friends during this sad time. I am very grateful to have known her and share in our profession and life in Noosa. Fly high angel.”
Rob Neely shared in the Residents for Noosa community group that he had the pleasure of training Ashlee at the Noosa Heads Surf Life Saving Club.
“I had the pleasure of training Ash for her Bronze Medallion at the NHSLSC about ten years ago,” he wrote.
“An absolutely beautiful person taken too soon. There are many in Noosa that knew her well.”
The Queensland parents of killer Joel Cauchi told media near Toowoomba they were heartbroken by their son’s actions.
“This is a parent’s absolute nightmare when they have a child with a mental illness that something like this would happen,” Mrs Cauchi said on Monday.
“If he was in his right mind, he would be absolutely devastated about what he’s done.
“He obviously wasn’t in his right mind, he’s somehow been triggered into a psychosis and he’s lost touch with reality.”
The NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb said police are now investigating whether the attack was targeting women.
“It’s obvious to me, it’s obvious to detectives that seems to be an area of interest – that the offender had focused on women and avoided the men,” she said.
Andrew Cauchi, the father of Joel Cauchi, said he understood why the NSW police believed this was his motive.
“He wanted a girlfriend and he’s got no social skills and he was frustrated out of his brain,” he said.
The five other people who lost their lives in the attack are Dawn Singleton, Pikria Darchia, Faraz Tahir, Jade Young, and Yixuan Cheng.
Seven other stabbing victims are still being treated for their injuries in hospital while five patients have been discharged.
The New South Wales premier Chris Minns said the people who have been killed were innocent people who had their entire lives ahead of them.
“The community is devastated in the knowledge of their loss, whether we were personally known to those who were killed or not,” he said.
