'ALL I SAW IN THEIR EYES WAS RAGE'
London Bridge victim Geoff Ho reveals how he fought off terrorists using his martial arts skills so others could escape – as they slashed him in the throat
ONE of the heroes of the London Bridge attack has told how he fended off knife-wielding terrorists using his martial arts skills so people could escape.
Journalist Geoff Ho was stabbed in the throat while trying to stop the three attackers' bloody rampage through Borough Market on the night of June 3.
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Geoff, who was recently discharged from hospital, has described the moment he confronted the three jihadis - British Pakistani Khuram Shazad Butt, Morrocan Rachid Redoune and Moroccan-Italian Youssef Zaghba.
It comes after the Sunday Express business editor returned to Borough Market after it reopened 11 days following the devastating atrocity - which killed eight people and injured 48 others.
In his first TV interview, he told Sky News: "All I saw in their eyes was rage. They were so angry. It was like they were animals, to be perfectly honest and when they came at me it was frenzied.
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"They were just having everything. There wasn't any calculation in it, you could tell, they just really wanted to hurt as many people as possible and they didn't care about life."
Recalling what happened, Geoff said he was out with friends in the Black & Blue restaurant when a "waitress just ran to the door and locked it".
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He continued: "We could hear screams outside, and we were wondering 'Oh, what's going on?' And then we saw the three terrorists come up.
"They kicked in the door and I knew instantly then because I saw the suicide vests - what looked like suicide vests - that I had to put myself in harm's way and try and delay them because otherwise they would just go on a killing spree.
"When they came in, they initially started yelling: 'Get on the floor. Everyone get on the floor and lay down'. And I knew that if anyone did that, they would just be dead instantly.
"The terrorists would be just carving them up because you're prone in that position - you can't do anything.
"So all I tried to do was actually put myself between them and my friends and try and buy the police time because I knew they were in the area."
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He added: "When they [terrorists] came at me, they got me in the throat and then they tried to stab me in the stomach. I tried to carry the blades. The knife wounds on my hands suggested that I tried to push them out that way."
When asked if there was any point he thought he might die, Geoff replied: "It never really crossed my mind until I got to London Bridge.
"There was one moment when I thought, you know what, I just need to sit down for a bit and close my eyes and that's when my friend kept talking and said: 'No, don't close your eyes, keep talking'."
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Geoff has been hailed as a hero for standing up to the attackers and distracting them long enough for his friends and others to get out but he doesn't see himself as one.
He said: "I don't think of myself that way. I just wanted to put myself in the way to protect my friends and give them time to get out of there.
"That's all I wanted and they did and everyone survived and I'm really grateful for that.
On Wednesday, Geoff posted a picture of himself enjoying a fruit juice and smiling as traders set up their stalls in Borough Market.
In a Twitter post, he wrote: "Made a detour on the way home to support all my friends at @boroughmarket. Totally worth it."
Borough Market has launched support fund to help traders suffering business losses since London Bridge terror attack – to donate to the trader support fund visit the
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