A young Scottish woman has described the moment she fled for her life during a deadly terrorist shooting at a Jewish festival on Sydney's Bondi Beach, determined not to die without saying goodbye to her family.
Sunset Stroll Turns Into a Nightmare
Miya Lind, a 26-year-old model from Kirknewton in West Lothian, was walking with friends towards the famous beach to watch the sunset last Sunday evening when the attack began. The group was on a bridge in the Archer Park area, where more than 1,000 people had gathered to celebrate Hanukkah, when they heard what sounded like 'pops'.
Initially mistaking the noise for firecrackers, Ms Lind's friend quickly realised the grave danger and urged everyone to run. The sounds were, in fact, gunshots from suspected attackers Naveed Akram, 24, and his father Sajid, 50. The shooting spree left 15 people dead in one of Australia's worst terror incidents in recent years.
'I Was Not Prepared to Die in Fear'
In an emotional interview with BBC Radio Scotland's Breakfast show, Ms Lind recounted the sheer terror of the escape. Wearing flimsy shoes and utterly unprepared, she ran alongside her friend, who used her bag to shield her head.
"It was absolutely terrifying," Ms Lind stated. "I just thought, I don't even have the time to take these off, because I was just waiting and preparing for something to hit me."
In a moment of profound clarity amidst the chaos, she looked up at the sky. "I'm not going to die in fear," she resolved. "I'm going to appreciate where I am and how beautiful the sky is. I'd rather that be my last memories."
Her foremost thought was of her family. She was tormented by the idea of perishing without a chance to say farewell. "Maybe somehow, if I can think of my family and whatnot, they'll understand that I left and I love them," she said.
A Desperate Dash for a Final Goodbye
After running to the end of the beach and taking shelter in an alleyway, Ms Lind made a perilous decision. She realised she had dropped her mobile phone and, believing these could be her final moments, she braved exposure to retrieve it.
"I thought there's no way I'm leaving this Earth and not getting to say goodbye to my family," she explained, describing how she stuck her head out and ran back to grab the device.
The full horror of the situation only sank in later, as she tried to catch her breath behind an ice cream truck. "I'd looked to my left and there was just blood streaming down the path next to me," she recalled. "I think that's when it sank in... once we had seen the blood, that kind of really just confirmed what had happened."
The aftermath was, she said, "absolutely heartbreaking". Naveed Akram, who remains in hospital, has since been charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and committing a terrorist act. His father, Sajid Akram, was shot dead by police at the scene.
