Sleepless nights, family tension and bullets in his arm: Bondi hero one year on

The Sydney Morning Herald · Jane Cadzow · 2026-11-05 18:00 UTC

Almost 12 months after the Bondi massacre, Ahmed Al Ahmed reflects on his brave actions on the day – and his struggles in the aftermath.

Almost a year after the Bondi massacre, Ahmed Al Ahmed reflects on his brave actions on the day – and his struggles in the aftermath.

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For Ahmed Al Ahmed, the scene is still vivid. On a beautiful Sydney summer evening, he is crouching between two cars in a parking area at Bondi Beach. The warm air is full of the sound of gunfire. And screaming. Terrified people are streaming past his hiding spot, running and stumbling. He tries to make sense of what he is seeing and hearing, but his brain seems to have frozen. Even his body is acting strangely. He looks down and registers that the knee he injured in a work accident, the one that hurts like hell to bend, is flexed beneath him. No pain at all. “My god,” he says to his cousin, who is sheltering beside him, “what is happening?”

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