When they set off from their homes on that crisp March day two years ago today, they had no idea their lives were about to change forever.
But at 2.40pm, when a lone wolf terrorist began to mow down pedestrians on London’s Westminster Bridge , each were suddenly thrust into a nightmare from which many have still not emerged.
The families of the five people who were killed and those who were injured and still carry the emotional scars of the events of that terrible day.
The bridge leading to the Palace of Westminster was full of tourists and local people going about their business when Khalid Masood, a radicalised Muslim convert, mounted the pavement in a hired 4x4 vehicle and began ploughing into pedestrians indiscriminately.
Police believe he was driving at 76mph, with most of those he ran into dying instantly or suffering horrific injuries.
One woman was sent flying over the side of the bridge into the River Thames.
He then crashed his car and ran towards Parliament where he stabbed unarmed PC Keith Palmer to death as he stood on duty outside the Carriage Gates.
Masood was shot dead by police.
PC Palmer, 48, died alongside mother-of-two Aysha Frade, 43, who worked at DLD College London, and US tourist Kurt Cochran, who was walking along the bridge with his wife Melissa as they celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary.
Retired window cleaner Leslie Rhodes, 75, died the next day in hospital, and Andreea Cristea, 31, who was visiting from Romania with her boyfriend, Andrei Burnaz, was rescued from the River Thames but died in hospital two weeks later.
Dozens more people were hurt, including tourists from Ireland, South Korea, France, Poland and Germany.
Cyclist Franciso Lopes, 27, from Willesden, northwest London, was one of the last people to be hit before Masood’s car crashed outside Parliament.
He was flung over the bonnet, leaving his head and legs covered in gashes.
Following the incident he was forced to give up his job at an M&S in St Thomas’s Hospital because of stress.
He said last year that he planned to move to Ecuador, where his mother lives, to escape the haunting memories of the atrocity.
Remembering hearing a woman scream and looking round to see a Hyundai vehicle veer into the cycle lane, he said: “I saw that the car was on the pavement. That’s a moment that’s been in my head a lot.
“The car just comes onto the pavement. I had no time to do anything, it just went at me. I just felt that I spun in the air. I was just on the ground after that.
“That’s all I can recall from that moment. At the time I had no clue what was going on.
“Fortunately I didn’t pass out, I was just moving in pain on the floor.
“I saw an unconscious lady to my left, and another lady who was screaming to my right. It is a pretty horrific memory that I have still.”
He said he still struggles with the memories of the attack, becomes uncomfortable in crowded places and found the journey to work, taking the same route, so difficult he ended up leaving the job he loved.
He said: “I was so different than I am now. Sometimes I wish I was that person still.
"I was much stronger. I had a much stronger character. I’ve kind of lost a lot of confidence in myself.
“I try not to talk a lot about it because I don’t want people to feel sorry for me. I want to try my best to be the normal person that I was. It’s been quite tough.
“I don’t really enjoy my life here after the accident, I just want to go where I feel comfortable.”
“I was close to death. I am just thankful to be alive, but it has changed me.
“I went into a big depression. I am just trying to be happy again, which is difficult some days. I have got a lot of anxiety.
"I get frightened of traffic. You never think it’s going to happen to you.”
Keith Chapman, 62, had finished working at St Thomas’ Hospital and was at Westminster Bridge when he was caught up in the carnage.
He was hit by Masood at 76mph and broke his right arm and left leg and snapped a vertebrae in his back.
He remembered: “When the car hit me I didn’t feel lots of pain. I guess that was adrenalin.
"It was like you see in the films, everything went in slow motion. I remember gliding into the air. Everything was a hazy white and it fell really quiet.
"Then things returned to normal speed. People were asking if I was OK. I was on my hands and knees in the middle of the road.
“There was a body that was limp a few yards from me. I couldn’t tell if it was male or female.
"I don’t think they lived. And there was a man running up and down the bridge screaming for his girlfriend.
“I later found out she died after being knocked into the Thames.”
Keith was forced to give up work and today finds it difficult to walk more than 200 yards. And he still struggles with the emotional trauma of his experience.
He said: “I can no longer cross the road. I look left and right about 20 times at a junction. I hate being in busy places.
“I will never go to London again. It gives me the creeps. I’m a big Chelsea fan and I’ve accepted I will never go to see them again because of the large crowds.
“One of the worst things is that because I struggle to get up the stairs we are reluctantly going to have to sell our family house of 12 years to move into a bungalow.
“I don’t want to but I’m going to have to.
“Two or three times a week I can struggle to get to sleep as I’m taken back to that day.
“Sometimes it’s the body I saw lying near me on the bridge. Sometimes it’s the man screaming for his girlfriend.
“Sometimes it’s just the image of Big Ben that keeps me awake. I’ve accepted it’ll never leave me.”
Magda Toi, 40, the sister of Andreea Cristea, found out that her sibling had been hit in a phone call from Andreea’s boyfriend, Andrei, who had planned to propose to her that day.
She said: “I will remember that day for the rest of my life. It is still so raw.
“I heard the news from Andrei 10 minutes after the attack. He rang on her phone.
"He told me a car crashed into them and that he could not find Andreea. He was screaming, everyone was screaming in the background, I could hear police sirens.
“After that I turned on the TV and all the news was of a terror attack in London. I realised my sister was involved.”
Critically-injured Andreea was rescued alive from the River Thames but her life support was switched off two weeks later.
Magda said: “The big sadness is this child of 31 years is not with us and we miss her very much.
"The reality of losing her for ever is a pain we live with every day for the rest of our lives.”
Melissa Cochran husband Kurt was among the five killed in the attack.
She suffered a broken rib and leg when she was hit by Masood’s vehicle and is still grieving for her partner.
Last year she told the Sun on Sunday: “I’m still recovering, still doing lots of physical therapy. I am walking on my own but I have a limp.
“This anniversary is going to be hard for all of us but I’ve got a lot of friends and family.
“We are going to maybe have a little get-together and share some memories and stories. We will hopefully laugh and have a good time.
“My husband was a much-loved man.”
Even those who weren’t hurt in the attack but witnessed the events have told of their continued trauma.
One, a 65-year-old woman called Patricia who was on a bus crossing Westminster Bridge when Masood began killing people, said she approached the Victim Support charity after suffering from flashbacks.
She said: “At the time I was very frightened and didn’t know what was happening. The police were shouting to get off bus and move away from the area.
“People were fainting around us, just dropping to the floor. Someone came past saying someone had been shot, but we didn’t know who.
“When I went home and saw the news it almost felt more dangerous than it had at the time and it was only in the aftermath I was so disturbed by it. I suffered from flash backs and had difficulty sleeping.”
Another who found himself suddenly thrust into a terrorist atrocity was Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood, a former Army officer who rushed to try to save the life of PC Palmer after he had been stabbed.
Last year he fought back tears on live TV as he remembered arriving home that night to find his eight-year-old son sitting on the stairs sobbing.
He said: "A vivid image I have is returning home after what had happened and finding my son on the top of the stairs and he was in tears and he was on his own.
"I sat next to him and he just asked 'why?'. He couldn't understand why I stepped forward, why somebody had been killed, why somebody was wielding a knife in a place he had visited many times.
"All I could offer was 'there are some bad people in the world, but there are a lot more good people and it's the good people who win’.”
Tobias, who lost he brother Jon in the Bali bombing in 2002, said he has also been profoundly affected by the memories of that day.
He said: “You realise how mortal we all are and how short life can be, and you simply do not know what is coming around the corner.
“It makes you realise that you must recognise we live in very dangerous world.”
The victims
PC Keith Palmer , 48, of the parliamentary and diplomatic protection command.
He had 15 years' service, was married, and had a five-year-old daughter.
He had served in the Royal Artillery before joining the police.
Aysha Frade , 44, who worked in administration at DLD College London, was killed after being hit by the attacker's car before it reached Parliament.
She was 44 and a married mother of two young daughters.
Kurt Cochran , 54, from Utah, who was in London to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary.
His wife Melissa was seriously injured.
Leslie Rhodes , 75, a retired window cleaner, had been receiving medical treatment in hospital following the attack.
His life support was withdrawn on March 23.
Andreea Cristea , 31, from Romania, who was on holiday with boyfriend Andrei Burnaz, and who fell into the River Thames after being hit.
She was taken to hospital but died on April 6 as a result of her injuries.