The grieving partner of a devoted mother who died protecting their baby during a stabbing spree in an Australian mall says the outpouring of support since then showed him there's "more good in this world, than bad."
In a message posted on the GoFundMe website, Dan Flanagan publicly thanked the "thousands of people who have left messages and generously donated through this page" in the wake of Ashlee Good's horrific slaying.
Flanagan said he was overwhelmed by the kindness shown to him and daughter Harriet, who needed surgery to recover from wounds to her chest and arm.
"Please know that you've provided us with both comfort and strength during this difficult time, and that every message and donation has been read and received," he wrote Sunday. "To say they've been deeply appreciated would be an understatement."
Flanagan added, "The day our family of three became a family of two will never make sense to me, but countless people — including every single one of you who wrote messages and donated through this page — have shown me that while tragic things do unfortunately happen, there is more good in this world, than bad."
Flanagan also offered his "heartfelt and deepest condolences to the other families, friends and communities dealing with their own loss and trauma" from the April 13 carnage in the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping mall in Sydney.
Good, 38, was among five women and a male security guard who were stabbed to death before police fatally shot the 40-year-old killer.
His father later told reporters his son had struggled with mental illness and apparently targeted women because he "wanted a girlfriend and he's got no social skills and he was frustrated out of his brain."
The GoFundMe appeal on behalf of Flanagan and Harriet, who was 9 months old when her mom was killed, has raised more than $55,000 as of Tuesday.
