“To think it can come close to us like this is horrific,” she said, referring to the stabbing attack by a lone assailant Joel Cauchi, who was shot dead by police.
“This [the paddle-out] is a beautiful way of saying this is who we really are…”
Kellie Sloane, the member for Vaucluse, attended the paddle-out while Allegra Spender, the independent member for Wentworth, participated.
After the event, Sloane said: “We have had prayer services, candlelight vigils, but the real religion of Bondi is the surf. So this morning, the coming together of so many different clubs was really moving, and appropriate.”
The paddle-out came only a few hours before a memorial service for Young, 47, at the Botanic Gardens in Sydney. Attendees have been asked to wear bright colours in memory of Young, an architect.
A tradition that originated in Hawaii, a paddle-out is a way for surfers to gather on the water, pay tribute to lives lost, and form a circle to reflect on lives taken too soon, organisers said.
The clubs participating included Bondi Boardriders, Bondi Longboard Club, Bondi Girls Surfriders, Bronte Boardriders, Let’s Go Surfing, Bondi SBLSC, North Bondi SLSC, Bronte SLSC, Tamarama SLSC, Bondi Icebergs and Bondi United.
The Bronte Surf Life Saving Club paddled from Bronte to join other clubs at Bondi and the Waverley Council Lifeguards also joined in to show support for the victims.
A mother of two, Young was an interior architect working for the Georgina Wilson Associates practice and a member of the Bronte Surf Life Saving Club.
Wilson posted a tribute to Young on Instagram that elicited condolences from Sydney architects and builders.
“I can’t even believe I am writing this, it doesn’t feel real,” Wilson wrote. “Jade was part of our Georgina Wilson Associates team for over 12 years. She was family.
“Anyone who knew Jade knew what a beautiful, kind and warm soul she was. We are completely devastated. All our love goes out to her family. We love you Jade.”
The stabbing rampage at Westfield Bondi Junction on April 13 took the lives of five women and a man: new mother and osteopath Ashlee Good, 38; bride-to-be Dawn Singleton, 25; architect and mother of two Jade Young, 47; artist Pikria Darchia, 55; Chinese economics student Yixuan Cheng, 27; and Westfield security guard Faraz Tahir, 30.
The nine-month-old daughter of Good, who was one of 12 other people injured during the attack, was released from hospital on Sunday to return to her father
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Source Agencies
