JOSIE RUSSELL’S life was changed forever on July 9, 1996, when she survived
a brutal hammer attack in which her mother and sister died.

Mum Lin, 45, Megan, six, and Josie, then aged nine, were tied up and
savagely beaten by deranged Michael Stone in a quiet country lane. Even
their dog, Lucy, was attacked. Josie suffered terrible head injuries in
Chillenden, Kent.

Since then, she and her father Dr Shaun Russell, an environmental
scientist, have forged a special relationship borne out of intense love and
respect for each other’s courage.

Now 25, Josie has agreed to share a private piece of writing penned for
Shaun for Father’s Day, revealing the depth of her feelings for him…

I WROTE this a few weeks ago. I’m not very good with sentimental stuff and
especially with Shaun because I don’t like him looking upset.

Also, we don’t talk about the past very much. Why would we?

It can be awkward and difficult to discuss things that are so sad.

So I just wrote this as a surprise to show him how much he means to me. It’s
sometimes hard to say these things in person. So here it is in print. I hope
you like it Shaun.

I think Shaun is an amazing father. I suppose I should start by explaining why
I call my dad by his first name.

Apparently, it goes back to when I was a baby. I overheard my parents calling
one another by their first names and copied them. Being academics, they were
happy with things that seem different to other people so that’s how Dad
became Shaun.

I’m very happy at the moment and my life is going great, but I do get upset
and sad when I think about what has happened.

I don’t sleep very easily, so sometimes I start thinking about a lot of things
and when I think about the past it makes me realise how much Shaun has gone
through.

I don’t think about what has happened to me so much — but more about what
Shaun went through when he found out that two of the people he loved the
most in the world had gone.

Grief There must have been that terrible realisation that life would never be
the same.

I was only nine when I got attacked and I think now that I didn’t quite
understand what had happened to me back then.

While I was struggling to get well in hospital, there was so much going on
outside with the media and police.

Shaun DID understand what was going on and had to somehow manage his own
feelings of grief while caring for me and sorting out all of these things.

On top of all that, he had to give up a good job that he loved and had worked
all his life for. He must have felt so broken — but he kept so strong.

At the time, I didn’t realise what Shaun was going through but now I do. My
partner Iwan and I have only been together for six-and-a-half years and I’d
be distraught if something happened to him. Shaun and my mum Lin were
together for about 30 years.

And I know that Shaun has found it even harder to think about my sister Megan.

When he looks at photos of Lin he can at least know that she had a lifetime —
but Megan only had six years. That’s tough.

Shaun must have been so very sad and upset at times but he made me happy and
let me carry on with life as normal as it could be.

First of all, he made a brave decision to move me away from Kent to North
Wales after the attack.

We had lived there previously and Shaun did have friends in North Wales but it
must have felt like a huge and important decision to make on his own.

Now I know that he did it for me. He wanted me to grow up away from the
spotlight and he took me somewhere remote — where I could have an innocent,
carefree childhood.

He definitely did the right thing.

He never tried to fill Lin’s role but he was always there for me, surrounding
me with lots of happiness and wonderful friends.

I remember him driving me to the beach and taking me and my friends on
canoeing trips — he was the best taxi driver in the world.

When I was younger I was quite mean to him when I didn’t get my own way. In my
early teens I was moody and pushed him away, preferring to get the bus to
school rather than letting him take me as usual.

But he took it all in his stride and just let me go through all life’s normal
stages.

I know now that it must have been hard to let me go and find my own way in the
world after he had almost lost me.

I think that if the attack had happened when I was older it would be different
and I would find it much harder to come to terms with Lin and Megan dying.

Strength I think Shaun has found it harder than me. But I’m also glad for
Shaun that I was still alive so he had someone to carry on with. We have
found a lot of strength in each other and that’s just one reason why the
bond between us is so strong.

Thanks to Shaun being this steady, solid person, I’ve had a normal life. I
have an amazing life and it’s all thanks to him.

I left home and went to art college, which was really fun and such a normal
thing to do — just like everyone else at my age.

I love it now when people refer to me as “the textile artist” and not “that
 little girl whose mother and sister were murdered”.

My speech and spelling still aren’t great because of the injuries I suffered
and I know I’ve been through quite a lot physically and emotionally.

But to me it doesn’t matter at all. I see these things as minor problems and
it doesn’t stop me doing anything.

And now Shaun has helped me to buy the family home I grew up in with him and
Lin.

It’s an amazing house. It’s pretty much a dream come true.

Shaun has done so much for me but he has never asked for anything in return.

He has just been there and made me happy.

What more could any daughter ask of a dad? I can never thank him enough.

What Josie did next

JOSIE graduated from Coleg Menai in Bangor with a degree in graphic design in
2009.

She started making and selling greetings cards at art fairs before moving on
to producing textile landscapes which now command up to £500 each.

She showcases her work on her website
and displays it in art galleries, where it is in huge demand.

Thanks to help from her dad and a trust fund boosted by the Criminal Injury
Compensation Board, Josie has bought her family’s former home.

She lives with partner Iwan Griffith and Rosie, a pony who belonged to her
mum.

Commanding views of Mt Snowdon, it is set in nine acres of wild beauty. But
for Josie it holds something far more magical.

Preserved within its walls are treasured memories of her mum Lin and little
sister Megan.