An aspiring doctor and hockey star who was one of three people killed in Nottingham came from a family with an extensive background in the medical field, according to reports.
The heartbroken parents of Grace O’Malley-Kumar, 19, shared touching words at a vigil held in Nottingham on Thursday (June 15), as crowds stretched back almost half a kilometre.
Following news of her death, it has been revealed that Grace was following in her family’s footsteps.
Sinead O’Malley, her mother, has been a consultant anaesthetist at The Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, according to the Irish Times.
At the vigil, she told the crowd: “Be kind to each other, look after each other, don’t have hate in your hearts.”
She said the magnitude of the grief for her daughter reflects the magnitude of the love she and her family had for her.
It also emerged that Dr Sanjoy Kumar, Grace’s father, was a GP who saved three teenage victims after a knife attack in 2009.
He was working a typical day at the Larkshall Medical Centre in Chingford when a group of panic-stricken teens went to his surgery carrying their friends and pleading for help.
Two of the teens, aged 15 and 16, had been knifed in the chest, while a 17-year-old was stabbed in the abdomen following an incident in nearby Kings Road.
At the time, Dr Kumar described the situation “like a war zone” as they quickly reacted in saving their lives.
Speaking at the vigil for the Nottingham victims, Dr Kumar said their family had “become three”.
He had to pause to wipe his eyes during his address, calling himself a “broken-heart father” before asking people to imagine a world without violence, one of “just love”.
Her brother James’ voice shook as he called his sister his best friend and said: “If there’s only one message that comes out of this, I urge you all to cherish every moment you spend with your loved ones as you just never know when it will end.”
According to The Irish Times, Grace also had a grandfather, Professor Kevin O’Malley, who is an anaesthetist as well as a former registrar and chief executive of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI).
Who is Grace O’Malley-Kumar?
Grace was on her way to follow her family’s footsteps as she studied to become a doctor at the University of Nottingham.
Also known as a hockey star, she played at London’s Southgate Hockey Club as well as for the Old Loughtonians in Chigwell and England U18.
Before studying in Nottingham, she attended Bancroft's School in Redbridge.
However she was one of two students who were fatally stabbed in Ilkeston Road, a student area of Nottingham, on Tuesday (June 13).
Barnaby Webber has been named as the other student, while primary school caretaker Ian Coates, in his 60s, was found a bit further away with stab wounds in Magdala Road.
Police have said it is believed the attacker then stole the older man’s van before driving it at pedestrians in Milton Street.
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