London Bridge attack: Polish chef fought terrorist until police arrived despite heavy injuries

Chef is hailed a hero after relentless attempts to physically restrain attacker – ‘buying time for others to escape’ – despite being badly injured

A Polish chef fought against the London Bridge attacker “until the end” to help others escape from the terrorist, witnesses have said.

The man, who has only been identified as Lukasz, was working in the basement at Fishmongers’ Hall when Usman Khan embarked on a stabbing spree at a prisoner rehabilitation conference.

He took a pole hanging on a wall and fought the attacker while “buying time for others to escape,” said Toby Williamson, chief executive of Fishmongers’ Hall.

Mr Williamson told Sky News Lukasz suffered “five cuts all the way up his arm” but continued to pursue the attacker through the hall and out into the street.

Media reports initially said Lukasz was the man seen in photos fighting Khan with a narwhal tusk on London Bridge, but Mr Williamson later clarified in an interview that this was another man.

Khan, who was wearing a fake suicide bomb vest, was eventually wrestled to the ground by members of the public and then shot dead by police.

Bystanders, including an off-duty British Transport Police officer, a man armed with a narwhal tusk and another with a fire extinguisher, fought with the terrorist before he was killed.

Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, former University of Cambridge students who had been supporting the prisoner rehabilitation event, died after being stabbed by Khan. Three others were injured in the attack.

“You’re not going to see Lukasz,” Mr Williamson told Sky News. “Firstly he’s too modest and secondly there’s no camera footage.”

He said the Polish chef was washing glasses in the basement when he heard screams.

“He’s first aid trained so he makes the conscious decision to go upstairs. It’s pretty obvious what’s happening,” Mr Williamson said.

“The terrorist is brandishing two knives with victims all around screaming and people cornered.”

Mr Williamson said Lukasz then pulled a pole off the wall and “takes the fight on” while “buying time for others to escape”.

He added: “In that time he makes a stab towards the terrorist and knows something is wrong as he hits him in the chest and it bounces off. He’s got a vest on of some sort.

“At that point there’s a vicious knife fight in which Lukasz takes five cuts all the way up his arm. He’s hurt badly but doesn’t flinch for a minute.”

Khan then broke through the foyer doors on to the steps outside after another struggle in the foyer.​

Mr Williamson said: “Lukasz is right behind him. He is hurting badly and has lost the strength in his left arm but he was there until the end.”

Lukasz’s bravery was celebrated by his colleagues.

One told The Times: “Being stabbed didn’t stop him giving him a beating. Lukasz is a hero.”

Poland’s justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, has asked the country’s president Andrzej Duda to award Lukasz with its highest medal for “sacrifice and courage”, his spokesperson said.​

One of the three people injured in the attack has returned home while the other two remain in a stable condition in hospital.