Stab attack mum's daughters 'at heart of wedding'

Natalie Queiroz said she paddled in the sea in her wedding dress

A woman who survived after being stabbed 24 times says it was "really important" to make her wedding "special" for her daughters.

Natalie Queiroz, 46, was eight months pregnant when she was knifed in 2016 by a former partner in Sutton Coldfield.

Her daughter who survived the attack as an unborn baby was one of the bridesmaids at Tuesday's ceremony.

Ms Queiroz said the wedding in Cornwall to Simon Lyttle was "absolutely perfect".

The mother-of-three said it "wasn't anything" about "what happened on March 4th" [the date of the attack].

Ms Queiroz described it as a "very emotional day" at Polhawn Fort and said: "[With my daughters] we went the whole hog with the matching satin robes, matching dressing gowns, matching slippers, just really lovely.

"[It was] really important to me to make it special for the girls... We've always been a tight unit.

"The wedding had to be with them at the heart of it."

Ms Queiroz said she found the sea "a very restorative and calming place"

The couple would have got married in London, but they had two cancellations during the Covid pandemic.

Thirty people attended in Cornwall, including her eldest daughter who walked her mother down the aisle along with her other two girls, who were bridesmaids.

"[It's] our own little girls group," she said.

"They took me down to bring Simon into our family... they didn't give me away."

In 2016 the mother suffered knife wounds to her heart, lung, liver and uterus and deep cuts to her wrists.

Former partner Babur Karamat Raja was jailed for 18 years.

Next year Ms Queiroz is to have a little finger amputated following "issues and complications".

Ms Queiroz said the wedding was booked this summer, when she was on holiday

Following the wedding, she said her new husband's family had "really welcomed" her and were "very kind".

"I come with a shocking story. When you're bringing that into someone else's life, it's a big thing," she said.

Ms Querioz was recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours in June and became an MBE for services to young people and prevention of knife crime, although she is waiting for a date for the ceremony.

She stated she had had "a big enough year", which included attending the Queen's state funeral and preparing for the wedding in two-and-a-half months, and was "quite happy to wait to next year".

Ms Queiroz is also planning a long walk in her wedding dress as a fundraiser for Acorns Children's Hospice and is considering going from its base in Worcester to its site in Walsall, where her new husband's niece spent time before she died in 2019.

Ms Queiroz has campaigned about the dangers of carrying knives and has also worked to prevent youth violence.

She said: "I've got so much more I want to do. I want to open a trauma centre for young people.

"Life will... have its tough times. But the amazing times can always and will always follow."