The bystander who lunged at a gunman and disarmed him during Sunday's Bondi Beach attack is fighting for his life in hospital. Ahmed Al Ahmed, in his 40s, now says he would do it again, despite the pain from being “riddled with bullets.”
“He doesn't regret what he did,” Sam Issa, Ahmed's migration lawyer, told The Age, after visiting him at St George Hospital in Kogarah.
The attack began around 6:45 pm on Sunday during a public Hanukkah celebration. Two gunmen opened fire from a footbridge, targeting the crowd. Ahmed confronted one of the attackers, wrestled the rifle from him, and ultimately saved numerous lives before being shot twice.
“He said he'd do it again,” Issa said. “But the pain has started to take a toll on him. He's not well at all. He's riddled with bullets. Our hero is struggling at the moment,” the lawyer said.
Ahmed sustained multiple wounds, primarily to his left arm, and one bullet lodged in the back of his left shoulder blade that has yet to be removed. He may lose his left arm due to the injuries, Issa said.
“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, a Syrian-born Muslim who came to Australia in 2006, was granted citizenship in 2022. His initial application in 2019 was refused due to minor legal charges, which were later dropped. Issa said he would push for Ahmed's elderly parents to be granted citizenship as a reward for their son's service. “This is an opportunity for the PM to do something good as a reward for his bravery,” Issa said.
According to Issa, he feels “indebted” to the Australian community. “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,” Issa said.
“He gets that gratitude from being in Australia. This is his way of conveying his gratitude for staying in Australia, for being granted citizenship. He has really appreciated this community, and he felt that as a member of the community, he had to act that way and contribute.”
His parents, Fateh and Malaka Al Ahmed, said their son remained in “good spirits” despite the injuries.
“He said he thanks God that he was able to do this, to help innocent people and to save people from these monsters, these killers,” his father said. Malaka Al Ahmed added that she could not stop crying when she learned her son had saved lives.
Ahmed, a father of two daughters aged five and six, went to Bondi with his cousin, Jozay Alkanj, for a coffee only minutes before the attack.
Alkanj recalled, “He said, ‘I'm going to die – please see my family [and tell them] that I went down to save people's lives'.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New South Wales Premier Chris Minns commended Ahmed's bravery. Over 5,700 donors have raised more than $570,000 through a GoFundMe campaign for Ahmed. This included a $100,000 contribution from US billionaire Bill Ackman.
