LINDT SIEGE ANNIVERSARY - 'WE'VE SAVED EACH OTHER'

Eight years on, survivor Louisa Hope has forged an unlikely friendship with her saviour, Officer A

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Louisa Hope can still remember the moment she first saw the man better known as Officer A.

It was December 16, 2014, and she was one of 18 hostages being held by a lone terrorist in the Lindt cafe in Sydney's Martin Place.

Officer A, or Ben, was one of two Tactical Operations Unit (TOU) officers who shot and killed Man Haron Monis after a 16-hour stand-off.

Sitting beside each other at Louisa's Sydney home eight years later, it's hard to imagine the pair being embroiled in such a life-or-death experience.

"That one moment in time bonds you in such a peculiar way and I now feel completely safe with him, I can trust him with anything, Louisa, 60, tells Woman's Day.

"When the police came in to rescue us, it was incredibly overwhelming. I thought I was going to die." In the first hours of the siege, Ben and his fellow officers arrived on the scene and peered into the cafe window.

"I remember seeing Louisa and the way [the gunman] was terrorising and treating these people," says Ben, 41.

"It made it very personal. After seeing that, I was desperate to go in, but I wasn't allowed to." At 2.13am, nearly 16 hours after the siege began, officers entered the cafe and killed Monis. Louisa was caught in the crossfire and suffered shrapnel injuries to her foot.