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From suburban businessman to global hero, Ahmed Al Ahmed says he will never forget the moment he stared evil in the eye and he says it was the sound of women and children screaming for help that gave him the courage to take on a terrorist.
In an Australian first interview with 60 Minutes, the 44-year-old revealed what he said to gunman Sajid Akram after he tackled him to the ground, and how he is still living with two bullets from the December 14 terror attack at Bondi lodged in his shoulder.
He also detailed his snap decision to tackle Sajid Akram and wrestle a high-powered gun from the shooter’s hands.
“He didn’t say anything. Only I can see with his teeth, showing anger, as a devil, you know?” he told 60 Minutes.
The former tobacco shop owner from Sydney’s south visited Bondi Beach that Sunday evening almost by accident, searching for an afternoon coffee with his cousin Hothefa, when they came across the Chanukah by the Sea gathering at Archer Park.
As Ahmed retraced his steps through the park for the first time since that fateful summer evening, he recalled the sound of happy families celebrating the Jewish tradition of light over darkness.
Ahmed can also vividly remember the moment when joy turned to terror, as rapid gunfire erupted.
“I’m hearing heavy, heavy shooting, like a war. I can hear all the kids, women, everyone crying, you know, screaming,” he said.
As Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram carried out their lethal attack from the footbridge, Ahmed took cover between two parked cars, metres from the armed men.
Trying to shield himself from relentless bullets being aimed directly at the crowd, Ahmed says it was the harrowing sound of cries for help that propelled him into action.
Footage from that day captured the chilling twist when Sajid Akram left the footbridge and crept along the park’s edge towards hundreds of terrified and helpless people cowering nearby.
Ahmed said he couldn’t see the attacker approaching, but that another innocent bystander crouching nearby mouthed to him that the gunman was on his way.
“This guy kept telling me, ‘he’s coming, he’s coming’ and then he said, ‘he’s here’.”
“I asked God, ‘help me’. I didn’t think, I just saw it, do it.”
Ahmed can still feel Sajid Akram’s “strong and muscular” frame when he leapt onto his back and forced him to the ground.
“I run into him and hit him with my hand, right hand in his head and grab him into my arm, you know, his, his face, his neck, try to hold him, you know, with my arm,” Ahmed said.
Ahmed reveals for the first time what he said to Sajid Akram as he snatched the weapon out of the terrorist’s hands and turned it back on the shooter.
“Motherf—er, stop what you doing … You motherf—er, piece of shit,” Ahmed said.
Ahmed said he does not regret not shooting at the terrorist himself.
“Because I’m a human being, and I don’t wanna put my hand in blood,” he said. “My target was just to take the gun and stop him from killing a human being.”
Fifteen people were killed and 40 more were injured, including Ahmed, who was shot five times in his left shoulder, which he said was payback for trying to stop the atrocity and save lives.
“In this moment, I start screaming, ‘help’ and then asking my God, ‘Give me power, give me patience’,” he said. “I start feeling hot, my heart starts pumping, and then I start feeling sweaty. I was thinking I’m gonna die.”
Still recovering from his critical gunshot wounds, the reality of what Ahmed survived that day is only starting to set in for him. The murder of 10-year-old Matilda, the youngest of the 15 innocent victims, haunts him the most.
“I think all the time about this girl, I cry. Why? Why to the little girl, an angel like her,” Ahmed said.
Two months on from Australia’s deadliest terror attack, Ahmed is still in a lot of pain, two of the five bullets remain lodged within his shoulder and his left hand has little to no feeling.
Medical tests can’t detect any nerve activity yet, adding to Ahmed’s fear that he might never get full use of his hand back.
But asked if he would do it again, the ordinary man who did something extraordinary doesn’t falter.
“I will do it again and again and again. And anywhere in the world. If I have power and I have a life, I will do it.“
*Nine is the publisher of this masthead.
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