LITTLE MIRACLE
Annecy stabbing: Update on Brit girl, 3, knifed in horror attack as she’s ‘awake and talking’
A BRIT girl stabbed in the Annecy playground attack and left with life-threatening injuries is now awake and watching TV.
The three-year-old, Ettie Turner, is in a stable condition and recovering in hospital from Thursday's "barbarous" attack.
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The brave toddler was visited in intensive care today by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said she has “woken up” after undergoing surgery.
"She is watching TV and [the attack] is just a bad memory already.”
"Doctors are optimistic," he added.
The other three victims aged between one and three - two French cousins and a Dutch boy - are also "heading in the right direction," Macron said.
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British Consulate officials are supporting the young Brit's family as they hold a bedside vigil at Child Couple Hospital after their dream holiday in Annecy turned into a nightmare.
The French head of state arrived with his wife, Brigitte, at the children's hospital this morning before spending nearly two hours in nearby Grenoble where he spoke with her parents.
He also talked with the grandmother who was on a walk with French cousins Ennio and Alba, both two, when they were attacked.
They continue to fight for their lives.
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Mr Macron told French TV channel TF1 afterwards: "There are some things that are unacceptable, such as the violence of these incomprehensible acts. We must not get used to this."
Regarding the children, he added: "There is positive news. Everything the medical staff have told me about them is good.";
The knifeman, Abdelmasih Hanoun, 31, is dad to a three-year-old himself.
The devout Christian first targeted the French cousins around 9.45am on Thursday before launching at Ettie and a 22-month-old Dutch boy Peter, who is stable in Geneva.
Prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis extended the custody of Hanoun for further interrogation on suspicion of attempted murder.
Sources claimed he had been “having tantrums” in a cell and had “not provided any motive for the attacks”.
Homeless Hanoun is believed to have been living rough in Annecy since leaving his ex-wife and three-year-old daughter in Sweden for France last Autumn.
The divorcee, who served in the Syrian army, faced deportation after his asylum application was rejected six days ago due to his Swedish refugee status.
Locals spotted him lurking in the park “every day for two months” where he is said to have swam in the picturesque lake and slept in a cardboard box.
A source said: “Parents and other people around the playground were used to seeing him sitting on a bench.
“He was often muttering or singing to himself, and became aggressive if anyone else tried to sit on the bench.”
Mr Macron later moved on to visit the scene of the attack in the southeastern Alpine town Annecy, where he met one of the elderly men injured.
Manuel, 70, was stabbed in the neck multiple times and accidentally shot by police while another pensioner, Youssouf, had his arm slashed as he sat on a park bench.
Youssouf, 78, said: “I felt like there was no reason for him to come and attack me. I stayed calm, I didn't go after him, to chase him.
"I stayed quiet, still sitting, but he came like that and he probably wanted to make one more victim, to bother another person.
“I'm calm but I can imagine the stress of the families of the children and their loved ones or other children who saw the incident.”
White roses and cuddly toys have been left in tribute at Le Paquier park, where local resident Salih Ismajl screamed overcome with emotion: “Don't touch the kids. Why was I not here yesterday?”
Also among those Macron met with was the "backpack hero" who bravely intervened by using his backpack to thwart the attacker and slow down his bloody rampage.
Footage showed the Frenchman Henri d'Ansleme swinging his bags at the knife-wielding man and chasing him away from the kids.
Henri told CNews: "I acted really instinctively, I acted like any Frenchman would have done, I did everything to protect the weakest.
"What I did, anyone could have done. I followed my instinct."
The French leader also went onto thank the "remarkable" emergency workers for their bravery, stating: "We owe you a lot."
He said the children had been targeted in "the most barbarous of acts and I think that is what has shocked us".
The 24-year-old Catholic was on a nine-month “Tour de France” pilgrimage across the country’s cathedrals when he intervened.
Calls are growing for him to be honoured for his valiant actions as he battled the attacker until cops shot and detained him four minutes later.
The philosophy and management student said: “"All I know is that I was not there by chance.
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“On my journey to the cathedrals I crossed paths with this man and acted instinctively. It was unthinkable to do nothing.
"I let myself be guided by providence and the Virgin Mary. I said my adieu. They would decide what would happen.”
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