All of the survivors told their stories on national TV. One of them got crucified for it.
The public reaction to Sydney siege survivor Marcia Mikhael has been nothing short of brutal.
Most of us can’t even begin to imagine the horror that this siege victim experienced – but that hasn’t stopped the public and the media from viciously turning on her.
Mum of three Marcia Mikhael, 43, was one of 18 hostages held at the Lindt Cafe at Martin Place on December 15.
Like everyone else there that day, Ms Mikhael truly believed gunman Man Haron Monis was going to kill her.
She struggled to come to peace with the fact that her life could soon be over.
Related: Should the Sydney siege hostages get paid for media interviews?
She called her family to say her goodbyes.
And she has had to live with the knowledge that two of her fellow hostages didn’t make it.
But instead of the public rallying around her, she became the subject of an online hate campaign within hours of her story being aired on Channel Seven in January.
The abuse was so bad that an already-traumatised Ms Mikhael said she has even considered suicide.
Related: Inside the Sydney Siege: the survivors finally speak.
The Westpac project manager told the Blacktown Sun that the abuse started after her lawyer told the media that she was demanding a six-figure sum in exchange for her story:
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she was a victim of the situation and defininately deserves sympathy and support for what she has gone through is unimaginable but she is not a hero
Part of the problem is that you've suggested she's a victim of "bullying" without providing any evidence that she has been bullied. Not all criticism automatically qualifies as bullying and, as horrible as her experience has been, when you sell a story, public comment - even criticism - is both inevitable and legitimate.
One issue I had with Marcia's story was that she was very angry that Tony Abbott did not personally intervene. There was simply no way that Tony Abbott's intervention was going to make the situation better. He's not a trained hostage negotiator. And in fact the gunman wanted to speak to him live on national radio, as an act of terror.
Ultimately she seemed to blame absolutely everyone except the gunman. She used the interview primarily to express her anger about the police response which was in fact excellent. Even while the hostage situation was underway, she seemed to be under the impression that no one was doing anything to help, when in fact the whole nation was holding its breath, and our best forces were mobilised to bring an end to the siege as peacefully as possible. If the army had simply stormed in as she suggested, it could have been a bloodbath. You just can't always prevent the horror of a gunman who is prepared to both kill and die.
Ultimately I hope she can find the help she needs to process this unimaginable trauma.