The loved ones of a man who saw his best friend murdered and himself critically injured in a deadly New Year's morning truck attack in New Orleans have been bemoaning the city's failure to better protect the streets that day. of revelers.

The city has either removed or chosen not to deploy three different types of roadblocks to prevent vehicular ramming attacks, such as the one on Bourbon Street on Jan. 1 that killed 14 people and injured nearly 60, the report said. "They should be protecting people better than this," said Emile "Luui" Graham, the victim's father.

"No one deserves to die like this," Graham's father, also named Emile, told Guardian reporting partner WWL Louisiana. "These are people burying their children. These are young people," added Graham Sr., referring to the majority of the victims who ranged in age from their late teens to their 40s.

Emile Graham's parents say he and his best friend Hubert Gauthreaux went to Bourbon Street to join other revelers before the attack Ring the bell. Graham's sister, Brianna, told local news station WVUE that both grew up in a New Orleans-area community across the Mississippi River from the city and shared a love for each other while hanging out regularly. Love of music.

Brianna told WVUE that she remembers telling her brother and Gauthrow that she "loved them and wanted them to be safe."

Graham, 23, and Gothro, 21, were then attacked by a US veteran who was inspired by the Islamic State (IS) terror group and deliberately drove a pickup truck into a street on Bourbon Street. Revelers.

Gothro was mortally wounded. Graham's mother, Carmela, wrote on social media that it would have been impossible had it not been for an uninjured bystander who applied a tourniquet to one of Graham's legs to stop the bleeding and then kept him conscious until paramedics rushed him. Hospital, Graham may also have died. A GoFundMe campaign page is set up to help with his recovery.

Graham's sister recalled trying to call Gauthrow's number after learning of the attack but was unable to reach her brother before learning he had been hospitalized.

"It was really hard ... to realize that I was making a call to someone who wasn't there," she told WVUE.

Ultimately, Graham broke his shoulder, ribs, hip and leg. He underwent seven-and-a-half hours of surgery the day after the attack and was told he would have at least one more surgery and a lengthy recovery.

Carmela Graham told WVUE that her son is eager to begin recovery, even though he, too, has struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Some of the stuff he's going through is tough because I want to take the pain away from him, but I can't," Emile Graham Sr. said. "This is a nightmare."

Carmela Graham said she and her family are among many who question why the city has left so few barriers in place that might prevent an attack like the one that wounded her son and shattered his strongest friendships. Officials left only one police car at the Bourbon Street entrance.

The attackers bypassed it with ease and plowed through dozens of people on one of the world's most festive circuits, which should be closed to traffic during crowded times, including New Year's Day.

The decision came even after the city commissioned a 2019 report that determined the French Quarter neighborhood of which Bourbon Street is part of was particularly vulnerable to vehicular attacks.

The New Year's Day attacker eventually crashed into a construction vehicle on the Third Block of Bourbon Street and was killed by police after he was unable to detonate a homemade bomb he had planted on the avenue.

Two police officers were also shot dead before the attack ended.

The New Orleans government soon faced lawsuits accusing it of failing to adequately protect New Year's Day revelers. The matter remained unresolved Thursday, with authorities launching multiple investigations into the attack.

For the Grahams, however, a harsh truth is clear.

"They left the door open for something like this to happen," Carmela Graham said.