OBE for Westminster Bridge attack survivor who was inspired to combat hate

More support is needed to help victims of terror incidents, according to a survivor of the Westminster Bridge attack who has been made an OBE for his work to combat radicalism.

Travis Frain was hit by a car driven by Khalid Masood on London’s Westminster Bridge in March 2017.

Mr Frain, 25, of Darwen, Lancashire – who says “not a day goes by when I do not think about it (the attack)” – has been honoured for services to counter-extremism and to victims of terrorism.

He said: “The simple fact is that the state can and should be doing more. I think in many ways this honour is a recognition of the countless late nights chipping away behind the scenes to try and lobby the Government for change.

“My only hope is that with this honour I am able to continue to drive home that message to get changes that are needed.”

Masood, a British-born convert to Islam, drove along a pavement on Westminster Bridge, killing four pedestrians, and then stabbed a police officer to death outside Parliament.

The attacker was shot dead at the scene.

Lives were torn apart by “82 seconds of high and terrible drama” in the attack, an inquest into the deaths was told.

Mr Frain told the PA news agency: “If I am going to think about the incident – and I will remember it for many, many years to come – I want to be able to look back with not just the negativity of what happened that day and the impact it had on me and my family.

“I want to look back with a sense of pride and to know I have done everything in the years since then to make something positive out of something so negative, to try and help other people who have been affected by terrorism but also to try and prevent future attacks.”

This has included campaigning for the rights of terror victims to improved support from the state while also trying to prevent future attacks.

Mr Frain campaigned for a plaque to be installed on Westminster Bridge in memory of those affected, goes into schools and colleges to share his experience and has run educational workshops.

He created the Resilience in Unity Project in 2021, which records the testimonies of people affected by terror attacks in a bid to prevent people being radicalised.

He is also a member of the advisory boards of Counter Terrorism Policing and charities including the National Emergencies Trust.

Mr Frain was a politics and history student on a trip Whitehall when he was stuck by the car driven by Masood.

Mr Frain, who was closest to the road, took the brunt of the impact.

“I went over the bonnet and hit the windshield. I was thrown into the air before landing back down on the concrete,” he said.

His left leg was fractured in two places and metal and glass from the car caused a deep laceration in his leg, missing an artery by about an inch.

All four fingers on his left hand were broken and he had a range of cuts, bruises and other minor injuries across his body.

He spent eight days in hospital and had two operations, and one of his visitors was the King, who was then the Prince of Wales.

Mr Frain said: “I spent about six months on crutches, followed by having to use a walking stick and then had about two years of physiotherapy.

“The one thing I had a hell of a lot of during that period was literally time.

“I just felt that what I had experienced had changed my mindset and made me realise there was a lot of work that needs to be done in this area to try and counter extremism and try to prevent these attacks from happening in the future.

“I figured that if there was something, however small, I could do to contribute then I absolutely should do it once I was back in full working order.”

Mr Frain described himself as “immensely proud and humbled” by the OBE which he hopes may “shine a light” on the dedication of thousands of people around the country trying to counter violence and extremism.

He said: “At the end of the day we are all trying to prevent future terror attacks. There are a lot of people out there who may not have a story like mine but may be working behind the scenes and will never get recognition.

“We had a lot of attacks in this country in 2017, the year I became a victim of terrorism.

“We often hear that lessons will be learned. You would hope those lessons are being learned but I think it is still important that we bang the drum about why changes and improvement are necessary.

“Since the pandemic young people are increasingly being exposed to extremist content, often online but also since coming out of the lockdowns.

“I think it is really concerning, not just the speed but also the scale of the radicalisation.”