British expat Jonathan Porter said he was anxious and concerned for family and friends after hearing about the London terror attack on Saturday night.
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Porter, 47, moved to Edmonton five years ago; he used to live in Frimley, approximately 60 kilometres southwest of London, and travelled to London daily for work.
“I have friends who are very angry, very upset, those that are concerned and those that are anxious. But also those that have more measured response,” he said about how family and friends back home are reacting to the attacks.
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Porter has children still living in England; he said he is telling them to stay vigilant and street smart but he is also encouraging them to keep living their lives.
He most recently travelled to London in March and visited some of the attractions targeted in the attacks.
“We actually went back to Borough Market… I took my wife and my daughter there,” he said.
“That was part of the shock, ‘Wow, we were just there.’ We were seeing live pictures and we saw pictures and it’s a case of, ‘Wow, that was us, that’s where we were a few months ago.’”
Porter called the market “a beautiful place to go.” He also caught a glimpse of London Bridge during his last visit but did not have time to visit it.
The expat said Britain has had a lengthy history of extremist attacks, from Guy Fawkes to the Battle of the Cable Street to Irish republican terrorism, but he insists those attacks along with the most recent one will not stir fear into the country.
“Our character in Britain is – we won’t let this stop us. We will carry on with our normal life,” he said.
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In fact, Porter has plans to visit England in 2018, and he said those plans will not be changing.
“It doesn’t make me not want to visit the UK and people shouldn’t be afraid to visit the UK whatsoever,” he said.
Georgina De Cordova, 36, was born in London and moved to Canada as a child. She moved back to live and work in London from 2010 to 2013 and calls the city her “second home.” Her brothers, sisters, father and close friends still live there.
The attacks on Saturday night brought her back to the attack in Manchester just two weeks prior.
“I have family that live in Manchester so I was very concerned at that point. Last night, reading the news, because again it’s central London where there’s a lot of action happening, I was very concerned and contacted my friends and family, made sure everybody was okay. Luckily we’re fortunate that everybody is safe,” she said.
De Cordova likens Borough Market to the 104 Street Market and Whyte Avenue, meaning the attacks hit close to home.
But she is determined to return, saying the attacks won’t deter her.
“I have no concerns about going back to London. I felt very safe there and the people that I’ve spoken to still feel safe. I think they are prepared for such attacks,” she said.
“We have to stay strong and continue on our daily lives and that seems to be what’s happening in London. There’s definitely resilience.”
An Edmontonian in London said there is a spirit within the city to not let fear take over.
Caylee Webber, 28, has been living and working in London for approximately four years. She lives in South London, a roughly half-hour walk from London Bridge, where one of the attacks took place.
She said she was at a pub Saturday night when news of the attacks played out on the television.
“You could hear all of the sirens. I live right beside a hospital so that was the main hospital that they used as well,” she said.
Webber said there was, unfortunately, not a lot of shock about Saturday’s terror attacks, noting the Manchester attack happened two weeks ago and the Westminster Bridge incident took place in March.
The Edmontonian, who works in fashion-related television production, said she was inundated with messages and emails from family and friends checking in on her.
“It gets harder because, obviously, it’s happening a lot more frequently and you’re trying to push through your daily life. But when it actually gets to the point where I could have been in that pub this past weekend… you try not to let fear take over,” Webber said.
The dual citizen was in Manchester for work recently and said the city seems to be handling the terror incident well, adding that many people had positive outlooks.
“If anything, it’s just united the entire country and people are just trying to think positively… we’re all in this together. London is one of the most multicultural cities in the entire world.”
–with files from Shallima Maharaj
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