Ahmed al-Ahmed’s Brave Actions Prevented Many More Deaths
What was supposed to be a gathering of faith and celebration became a scene of brutal violence.
On the first day of Hanukkah, Dec. 14, at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, over a thousand people were attending a Hanukkah celebration, dubbed Hanukkah by the Sea, put on by the Orthodox Chabad. There, 15 people were killed by two gunmen.
The gunmen were a father and son from Pakistan, both with alleged ties to ISIS.
Further, 42 attendees were injured.
As bullets continued to be fired from the footbridge by the beach, a brave man put his life at risk to save many more.
Ahmed al-Ahmed, a 43-year-old owner of a fruit shop, saw the eldest of the two shooters and decided to confront him. Grabbing him from behind, Ahmed was able to disarm the shooter, and eventually had the shooter at gunpoint.
Speaking with 7News Australia, the hero’s mother said that Ahmed disarmed the man as he needed to reload, preventing the assailant from firing more rounds at innocent attendees of the Hanukkah festivities.
According to Al Jazeera, Ahmed’s cousin, Asad, informed the public that Ahmed had been shot twice during the altercation, and is now undergoing surgery for nerve damage and other complications from his injuries.
The GoFundMe For Ahmed Raises Over $2.5 Million
A GoFundMe campaign was set up by Car Hub Australia, and its aim is to show “gratitude and support for someone who demonstrated incredible courage when it mattered most.”
On Dec. 18, Zachery Dereniowski, an Australian influencer who helped co-organize the GoFundMe, visited Ahmed in the hospital, saying, “You are an absolute hero.”
He then presented Ahmed with a gift.
“I came here with news of people around the world, 43,000 people,” Zachery began, turning around a large check for Ahmed to see. “They raised you $2.5 million.”
Ahmed responded stoically, asking, “I deserve it?”
Zachery replied, “Every penny.”
From there, Ahmed was asked if he had a message for those who donated to the GoFundMe, and he answered, “To stand with each other, all human beings and forget everything bad.”
He then said that he saved intervened in the shooting as an act “from the heart.”
Watch him receive the check for $2.5 million, here:
As of Friday, Dec. 19, the campaign has raised $2.6 million, with over 44,100 individual donations made.
“No one expects to be a hero, but when the moment came, he was,” writes the campaign organizer. “Any contribution, big or small, is a powerful way to say thank you.”
Donations are still being accepted, and the GoFundMe can be found here.
Learn more about Ahmed al-Ahmed, and see some of his brave actions against the Bondi Beach shooters, here:
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