A mother who survived the Bondi terror attack has given a harrowing account of using her own body to shield her five-year-old daughter as gunfire erupted around them during a Hanukkah celebration.
A Celebration Turned to Terror
On Sunday, December 14, Shemi Kahn was filled with excitement to attend what she thought was a "party" in the park near Bondi Pavilion for the first night of Hanukkah. The five-year-old was enjoying traditional jelly-filled donuts and playing with goats at a petting zoo when the peaceful event was shattered by violence.
Her mother, Jessica, heard the first shot fired by the attackers, father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram. She immediately realised the danger, noticing others mistakenly looking skyward, thinking the sounds were fireworks. In that instant, Jessica grabbed Shemi and ran for a sunken area in the grass, joining a desperate scramble of other parents.
A Tangle of Bodies for Protection
Jessica described a chaotic scene as countless parents threw their children into the pit and lay on top of them, exposing themselves to potential gunfire. "I just was doing everything in my power to make sure that my body was covering her entire body," Jessica told the ABC's 7.30 programme. "I had other children at my legs and I was trying to put my legs over them and other people. It was a tangle, an absolute tangle of people."
As the gunmen continued their rampage, firing at the Jewish celebration and ultimately killing 15 innocent people while injuring over 40, Jessica felt a terrifying spray across her back. She instinctively knew it was the blood of fellow community members. At one point, fearing she had suffocated her motionless daughter, she whispered to ask if Shemi was breathing, receiving only a sob in reply.
Escape and Aftermath
When the shooting finally stopped, a frantic escape ensued. Jessica recalled parents screaming at children to close their eyes as they fled towards Campbell Parade, past the gunmen's ominously parked car. Shemi was eventually reunited with her father, Nadav, and her nine-year-old brother, Lev.
In the 48 hours following the attack, the family visited the flower-filled memorial at Bondi Pavilion multiple times. Nadav, who had long feared such an attack on the Jewish community, spoke of a destroyed sense of "innocence in Bondi." The parents now face difficult questions from their children, with Jessica explaining the attackers "weren't well" and made "really bad decisions."
The terror attack at Bondi Beach has left deep scars, with the community and the nation grappling with the violent disruption of a sacred celebration and the tragic loss of 15 lives.
