Sara Edwards with her children, Madison and Jake, at the children's park in the Wollongong Botanic Garden. Picture: KEN ROBERTSON
Mother-of-three Sara Edwards loves to bring her kids to the playground at Wollongong Botanic Garden - and that's not going to stop despite an attempted abduction in the garden on Monday.
She watched on as Marshall, 4, Madison, 5 and Jake, 8, happily played in the sand in the fenced playground at the garden yesterday afternoon.
"It's scary - you know these things happen but it really hits home when it's in your own backyard," she said.
MORE: Hunt for brazen garden predator
"But I was discussing the incident with my sister this morning, and we decided that we wouldn't let it keep us away as the kids love it here. We'll just keep a closer eye on them.
"It hasn't kept people away today - I've been talking to friends who were here earlier and they said it's been packed all day."
Ms Edwards grew up in Berkeley and, while she now lives in Coonabarabran, she regularly visits the region.
"I'm a paramedic, so I see all sorts of things through my work - you can't prepare for every eventuality, you just have to protect your kids the best you can," she said.
"I teach my kids to be safe and to know where mum or dad are at all times.
"I tell them that if a stranger asks them to go somewhere, they should say no and yell out for help."
Keiraville resident and primary school teacher Laura Williams also visited the garden's playground with friends yesterday.
"I live just up the road, and as a local resident it's scary to think that this could have been a local person who did this," she said.
"It's also scary to think that someone came from outside the area, that they've chosen a place where they know there'll be lots of children on a public holiday."
A Wollongong City Council spokesman said: "There has not been an incident like this in the garden before ... and we would encourage people and families ... to use the garden as usual, as that does make it a safer place."
