The mother of Miriam Hyman, the 32-year-old killed in the London 7/7 bombings has said that the pain of losing her never fades. 

Mavis and John Hyman were enjoying their retirement when their younger daughter was killed in the terrorist attack.

“She was my child. She was a special girl,” Mrs Hyman said.

“Miriam managed to squeeze the brightness out of everything. It is very painful that she is gone but that pain is our driving force.” 

The 87-year-old was the recipient of this year’s Jewish Care Topland Business Award for her work in establishing the Miriam Hyman Memorial Trust. 

The trust has helped to open an eye-care centre in India, which she said “is a place of hope, healing and rehabilitation for children who need it, irrespective of the ability to pay”.

The trust also runs a programme which educates students about extremism, through Miriam’s story.

Mrs Hyman said: “The work we do in her memory makes our pain manageable.

“We teach young people about compassion, and empathy, we get them to see, even in the face of something so negative like losing our daughter, we can make a positive difference.

“It directly addresses the way Miriam lost her life and was developed in association with the UCL Institute of Education and Miriam’s old school, Copthall.”

She said it was “unbearable” to hear about other terrorist attacks that have claimed lives in the same way as her daughters. 

“Each time we see something it opens the wounds and it is hard. But we feel the work we are doing is important and preventative.”

The award was presented to her on Wednesday, at a lunch attended by 700 people, in central London.

On accepting the award from Jewish Care she said: “An award from an organisation which leads by example is very special and deeply moving.”