Ahmed Al-Ahmed, Bondi Beach hero bystander could lose arm after riddled with 5 bullets but he ‘would do it again,’ as GoFundme donation leads to nearly $2 million USD nearly being raised for selfless man amid shooting that led to 16 killed and 40 injured.
Ahmed Al-Ahmed, the hero bystander who tackled one of the Bondi Beach shooters may have ended up paying a greater personal toll for his braveness than previously reported.
The heroic bystander who took down and disarmed one of the Bondi terrorists has spoken for the first time from his hospital bed, as a public fundraiser to support him and his family surpasses a staggering $2m, this while battling the potential loss of his arm.
The price of bravery and human sacrifice to save others
According to his former migration lawyer, the 43 year old father of two daughters is suffering from injuries ‘far more serious than have been reported.’
In the aftermath of disarming one of the shooters, Sajid Akram, 50, and likely saving the lives of countless beach goers and attendees at a Jewish Hanukkah festival who are believed to be the chief targets of the father and son duo, the 43-year-old dad is reported to have lost feeling in his left arm, amid fears he may now lose his arm.
After having disarmed the 50 year old gunman, allowing police respite to move closer towards the father and son ‘terrorist’ duo before eventually taking them out, Al-Ahmed was shot at a number of times. Likely from police fire aimed at the father and son duo.
It was while hiding behind a tree and electing not to use the rifle he had taken off one of the shooters, that Al-Ahem was shot in the shoulder and arm. It was during this time that the 50-year-old managed to join his son at a nearby bridge pathway.
There is now concern as to the extent of injuries the Syrian-born tobacconist owner may have suffered in his heroism.
‘He’s having multiple surgeries, he’s got five gunshot wounds. It’s a serious injury – far more serious than has been reported,’ his former migration lawyer Sam Issa, who visited him on Monday at Sydney’s St George hospital, told The Australian.
‘At this stage, he says he has no feeling in his arm. I’m no medical doctor but he said to me that it seems like one of the bullets may have hit a nerve,’ the family legal rep told the outlet.
Despite touch and go prognosis, Bondi Beach hero said ‘he’d do it again’
Mr Issa said doctors had yet to remove a bullet from the back of Mr. Al-Ahmed’s shoulder as of Monday night, describing the injury as ‘weird.’
The lawyer further acknowledged that there are now fears the 43-year-old hero may even lose his arm.
Nevertheless, according to Issa, ‘he said he’d do it again.’
‘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.
At least 16 people were killed in Sunday night’s mass shooting before Mr Al-Ahmed acted, which left a further 40 injured as beachgoers and Jewish festive goers had come tot he packed iconic beach during a warm summer night.
Al-Ahmed, a Muslim man, arrived in Sydney more than a decade ago from Syria on a student visa according to Mr Issa.
After his battle for citizenship was heard at the Federal Court, he was granted citizenship in 2022.
He has run the Cigara tobacconist and specialist convenience store in Sutherland, in Sydney’s southern suburbs, since 2021, the lawyer said.
Hero bystander was not thinking about faith or identity but simply to save others
Commenting on whether the Muslim faith man was aware of the identity of the victims being shot at, relatives said the faith and identity of the people he sought to save was irrelevant. He had risked his life, run towards gunfire and danger cause ‘it was the right thing to do.’
Explained Al-Ahem’s father, Muhammad Fateh al-Ahmed: ‘When he did what he did, he wasn’t thinking about the background of the people he’s saving, the people dying in the street,’ He doesn’t discriminate between one nationality and another. Especially here in Australia, there’s no difference between one citizen and another.’
A GoFundMe campaign for Mr Al-Ahmed has so far raised close to a $2million, including $100,000 from US billionaire Bill Ackman.
Stated the Fundraiser in part, ‘In a moment of chaos and danger, he stepped forward without hesitation. His actions were selfless, instinctive, and undeniably heroic, taken without regard for his own safety.
This GoFundMe has been created to show our gratitude and support for someone who demonstrated incredible courage when it mattered most.’
