The son of the woman who spoke to the attackers in Woolwich has inadvertently spawned a Twitter meme: #MyMumisaMotherfuckingBadass. Ingrid Loyau-Kennett was one of several women who spoke to the terrorists or attended the body of the victim (another woman pushed past, apparently oblivious, with heavy shopping). Loyau-Kennett spoke to the two men moments after the attack. She told the Guardian: "I was not scared because he was not drunk, he was not on drugs. He was normal. I could speak to him and he wanted to speak and that's what we did."
Basil Baradaran spotted his mum's act of bravery on yesterday's evening news. He tweeted a photo of her standing face-to-face with one of the men, while a nervous crowd waits at the far end of the road:
Of all the things today 'I didn't expect a suspected terror attack in my town and my mum, of all people, to talk to the attackers #Woolwich
– Basil Baradaran (@SiibillamLaw) May 22, 2013
My mum is a motherfucking badass twitter.com/SiibillamLaw/s…
– Basil Baradaran (@SiibillamLaw) May 22, 2013
He was soon inundated with requests from journalists. Then, early this morning, Lauren Laverne spotted his tweet and realised it had the potential to be something more:
I do feel like we all might contribute to @siibillamlaw's hashtag. #MyMumisaMotherfuckingBadass
– Lauren Laverne (@laurenlaverne) May 23, 2013
I'll start: She went from Penywell Estate to Greenham Common, via a short career as a casino dancer. #MyMumisaMotherfuckingBadass
– Lauren Laverne (@laurenlaverne) May 23, 2013
People were quick to leap on board. There were heroic mums:
Mum raised us w/ no money on a council estate but made me believe I could do anything. My PhD is down to her :) #MyMumisAMotherfuckingBadass
– Nice Reminder (@nice_reminder) May 23, 2013
She's the most positive and good natured person I've met despite living with cancer for the third time. #MyMumIsaMotherfuckingBadass
– Joe Parry (@joeparry) May 23, 2013
@laurenlaverne my mum retired, went to help people with leprosy in Darfur.. robbed and shot at by bandits#MyMumisaMotherfuckingBadass
– Dave W (@makapala) May 23, 2013
@laurenlaverne She was the1st woman in her military band in the70s. Forced them to acknowledge her brilliance. #mymumisamotherfuckingbadass
– Shelley Jane (@ShelleyJaneT) May 23, 2013
Incidentally, #MyMumISaMotherfuckingBadass - she was the first female mounted police officer in Manchester, and is UK's longest-serving.
– Laura Corcoran (@friskylaura) May 23, 2013
There were mums who are simply lovely:
#MyMumisAMotherfuckingBadass because she says "catch. 27" instead of "catch 22" and I could not love her more for that.
– Red Boots (@redbootsblog) May 23, 2013
My mam didn't realise it was the same George Michael that was in Wham until 1998.#MyMumisAMotherfuckingBadass
– Robin (@robin_darke) May 23, 2013
And there were a fair few mums who just don't give a shit what people think:
Had my sister stolen from her by the state bc she was unmarried. Broke into the orphanage and took her back #MyMumisaMotherfuckingBadass
– Colin Beeblebrox (@Quazlor) May 23, 2013
She once egged Margaret Thatcher, and only thought to mention this to me after she died #MyMumIsaMotherfuckingBadass
– Saskia (@Saskiargh) May 23, 2013
From Oldham to Moscow to build computers in the 60s. Now tells 'funny' KGB stories when given Baileys. #MyMumisaMotherfuckingBadass
– michelle patel (@mets1977) May 23, 2013
#MyMumisaMotherfuckingBadass Age 63 walked 3 miles to see Radiohead. On a Zimmer frame, with advanced Parkinson's disease, 2 nights running.
– Dick Graceless (@DickGraceless) May 23, 2013
#MyMumisaMotherfuckingBadass She was 5 mins late for my christening. Vicar tried to berate her. She told him to stick his font up his arse.
– Nick Pettigrew (@Nick_Pettigrew) May 23, 2013
You can read all the contributions here. There are bound to be plenty more to come.
And if your mum fits the hashtag's description, why not let us know below?
• Comments have been removed for legal reasons
