The family of the “skateboard hero” of the June 2017 London Bridge terrorist attacks have launched a campaign for him to be recognised as a saint.

Ignacio Echeverría, 39, was one of eight victims of three Islamist terrorists who drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before they attacked people randomly with knives and machetes in nearby Borough Market.

The Spaniard, who is reportedly the nephew of a missionary bishop, was returning from a skateboard park when he stumbled upon the atrocity and saw one of terrorists repeatedly stabbing a woman.

Witnesses have reported that Echeverría used his skateboard as a weapon against the terrorist before he was fatally wounded himself.

He used his skateboard to fight off the attacker and buy others time to flee to safety, before he attempted to tackle a terrorist who was assaulting a police officer. He was then stabbed twice in the back by a third terrorist and died of his wounds.

The man’s family are now hoping open his cause for canonisation, a process which could result in his recognition as a saint. A group has now been set up to push for his beatification and ultimately his canonisation.

They were approached by Auxiliary Bishop Juan Antonio Martínez Camino of Madrid in the wake of an open letter from Pope Francis after the attack, praising Echeverría’s heroism.

Pope Francis wrote: “The heroic offering of life, suggested and sustained by charity, expresses a true, complete and exemplary imitation of Christ and, therefore, deserves the admiration that the community of the faithful usually reserves for those who have voluntarily accepted martyrdom of blood or have heroically exercised Christian virtues.”

Echeverría moved to London in 2016 to take up a position in money laundering prevention for the HSBC bank.

According to reports in the Spanish media, Echeverría was the nephew of Antonio Hornedo, the late Jesuit Bishop of Chachapoyas, Perú, and was described by friends as being devoutly religious himself, a Catholic who never missed Mass on Sunday.

He had also belonged to a group of young Catholics who met weekly in Madrid, according to El Mundo.

Echeverría has already received several posthumous honours, including the Spanish Order of Civil Merit and Britain’s George Medal, which Queen Elizabeth II bestowed upon his parents. Two skateboard parks have also been named after him in Madrid and Alicante.

Terrorists Khuram Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, were shot dead by police as they randomly attacked people around London Bridge on June 3 2017 in a killing spree that lasted 10 minutes.

Mr Echeverria was the last of their eight murder victims. A total of 48 other people were seriously injured.

The post Family seeks sainthood for London Bridge terror attack ‘skateboard hero’ appeared first on Catholic Herald.