World of worries: Newfoundlanders living in London safe after Westminster attack
Teacher Lori Beck waited in a staff room with her coworkers, eager to hear about their friends, in some cases family, locked down in Westminster.
Hours earlier, she had checked the news at the end of one of her classes at a Catholic school in London. She was shocked by what she saw.
"I had a panicked moment where I didn't know what to say, and I didn't want to upset any of the students."
There had been an attack. Details were unclear, but early reports said a police officer had been stabbed and Parliament was in a lockdown.
Nervous, Beck called her mother in Newfoundland to let her know there had been an attack but she was safe, 20 kilometres from the mayhem and confusion.
Her mother, living in the sleepy town of Change Islands, was relieved but sounded worried.
Text from home broke the news
In an office at the other end of London, Chelsea Linfield received several worried texts from her mother in Lewisporte — her first indication of the mayhem, which police said Wednesday was being treated as a terrorist attack, that was going on in the city.
Linfield went online and found reports of pedestrians strewn across the Westminster Bridge, a short distance from Parliament Square, victims of a driver on a rampage.
"It's not something we're used to," Linfield said. "We don't get these kind of threats at home."
What is next?
As her school day came to a close, Beck headed to the staff room, where everybody watched news coverage on TV.
This is overwhelming and scary.- Lori Beck, Newfoundlander working in London
They worried about their friends and family. They worried about getting home. They worried about how to speak to their students.
Three years ago, when Beck moved to London, her mother expressed concerns about things like terrorism. She brushed them off, assuring her mom that everything would be fine.
The family had moved all around the island as Beck grew up, never living anywhere bigger than St. John's.
"It's just quite surreal," she said. "I'm still getting used to the fact of living in a city, being from little Newfoundland. This is overwhelming and scary."
Moments after Beck ended the call with her mother on Wednesday afternoon, her phone rang again.
In her mother's initial worry, she'd forgotten one request.
"Please don't walk home alone."
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