The heroic bystander who disarmed one of the Bondi gunmen, Ahmed al Ahmed, has spoken publicly for the first time from his hospital bed, as a fundraiser set up to support him and his family surged past an extraordinary $1.76M in less than 24 hours.
The father and shop owner has been widely praised for bravely tackling one of the shooters responsible for the mass attack at Bondi Beach over the weekend.
Confronting footage shows al Ahmed charging at the gunman and wresting the weapon from him after the attacker appeared to run out of ammunition.
Despite sustaining injuries and being admitted to hospital, al Ahmed said he has no regrets about his actions.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, his migration lawyer Sam Issa said the pain had “started to take a toll on him”, adding that al Ahmed may lose his arm.
“He’s not well at all. He’s riddled with bullets. Our hero is struggling at the moment,” Issa told the publication.
Issa said al Ahmed was hit by approximately five bullets to his left arm, with one round penetrating the back of his left shoulder blade.
“He’s a lot worse than expected. When you think of a bullet in the arm, you don’t think of serious injuries, but he has lost a lot of blood,” he said.
“Ahmed’s a humble man, he’s not interested in coverage, he just did what he was compelled to do as a human being on that day.
“He gets that gratitude from being in Australia. This is his way of conveying his gratitude for staying in Australia, for being granted citizenship.”
Last night, NSW Premier Chris Minns visited Ahmed in hospital and posted on Instagram praising the “real-life hero”.
“Last night, his incredible bravery no doubt saved countless lives when he disarmed a terrorist at enormous personal risk,” Minns wrote. “There is no doubt that more lives would have been lost if not for [Ahmed’s] selfless courage.”
At least 16 people — including one of the gunmen — died in the mass shooting that unfolded during a Hanukkah celebration on Sunday evening.
Extraordinary footage captures Ahmed charging at one of the shooters, tackling him to the ground and wresting the weapon from his grasp.
Jozay, a cousin of Ahmed, said he was recovering from his first surgery and had two more to come, per The Guardian. “He took a lot of medication, he can’t speak well,” Jozay said after leaving the hospital on Monday evening.
Another cousin, Mustafa al-Asaad, told the Al Araby television network that Ahmed intervened as a “humanitarian act”.
“When he saw people dying and their families being shot, he couldn’t bear to see people dying,” he said.
“It was a humanitarian act, more than anything else. It was a matter of conscience … He’s very proud that he saved even one life.
“When he saw this scene, people dying of gunfire, he told me, ‘I couldn’t bear this. God gave me strength. I believe I’m going to stop this person killing people’.”
Ahmed’s parents, Mohamed Fateh al-Ahmed and Malakeh Hasan al-Ahmed, told ABC news their son was shot four to five times in his shoulder during the altercation.
“My son is a hero. He served in the police, he has the passion to defend people,” his father told ABC.
In the wake of the attack, the 43-year-old father of two young daughters has gained international attention, as a GoFundMe fundraiser in his support surged past $A1.3 million in less than a day. He also garnered praise from world leaders including King Charles and Donald Trump.
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