For Louisa Hope, standing in front of a crowd at the Rotary Inspirational Women's Awards and sharing her story of survival was not something she ever thought she would be doing.
But the events of December 15, 2014 forever changed her life, and now she says it's her responsibility to share her story of survival.
"We think about what could happen as a result of something so bad, so awful for all of us, some good can come," she said.
It has been a decade to the day since Hope walked into Sydney's Lindt Café on that fateful morning, thinking it would be just another day.
But it wasn't any other day.
Self-declared ISIS terrorist Man Haron Monis stormed the café shortly after she entered, taking her and 17 other people hostage.
"You never wake up thinking you're going to be involved in something that's going to change not only your own personal life but your country," Hope said.
"This did not just happen to us, this happened to everybody."
She and her mother were held captive in a 17-hour siege that unfolded under the intense glare of cameras, as the Channel Seven studio across the courtyard broadcast the entire ordeal live.
Café manager Tori Johnson was one of the first to notice Monis' erratic behaviour.
Survivor Selena Win Pe recalled Johnson's calm but tense interaction with the gunman moments before the siege began.
"I just saw Tori facing him… bright red… hands down… sad and frightened," she said.
Monis, armed with a sawn-off shotgun and claiming to have bombs in his backpack and planted around the city, took over the café, declaring his allegiance to ISIS.
Former New South Wales Premier Mike Baird said the moment he realised what was happening is one that will never leave his memory.
"I think for everyone in Sydney, it's a very familiar site, and I think that adds to the horror — that something like this could be eventuating in a place we all know."
While 16 of the 18 hostages walked out alive, the loss of Tori Johnson and 38-year-old barrister Katrina Dawson left an indelible mark.
Johnson was shot after his repeated attempts to free the other hostages and calm Monis failed, while Dawson was struck by fragments of police bullets during the final moments of the siege shortly after Johnson was shot dead.
Survivors, first responders, and victims' families have reflected on the event that shocked Australia. (Source: 1News)
Following the incident, the New South Wales Police changed the way the force deals with crises of that nature.
"Everyone just wanted them out… and for it not to happen," Baird said. "There's a deep grief in that."
Former NSW Police chief sniper Mark Davidson said he still blamed himself for those deaths.
He spends most of his time now reliving those final moments, wishing he had pulled the trigger earlier, he said.
"This is sort of the same really, where someone is doing a bad thing, and you have the opportunity to stop them, and you didn't do it," he said. "That's something you have to live with."
Diagnosed with Parkinson's, Davidson said he now spends his days on an isolated farm, seeking solace from the trauma of that day in the hopes he can forgive himself – and forget.
While today, Martin Pl remains a bustling part of Sydney, the events of December 15, 2014 are forever etched into the city's history.
New commemorative memorials have been embedded in the concrete. The handmade flowers, encased in glass cubes which light up both in the day and night, honour not just Johnson and Dawson but the first responders, as well as everyone who helped in the aftermath.
"This happened to all of us," Hope said.
