How brave Westfield Bondi Junction retail workers saved the life of baby girl as her mother lay dying

EXCLUSIVE

Traumatized shop workers who heroically saved a nine-month-old baby have broken down in tears as they bravely returned to the scene of the Bondi stabbing for the first time since the horror attack.

Ashlee Good, 38, pushed her injured baby into the arms of strangers at the Tommy Hilfiger store in Sydney’s Westfield Bondi Junction on Saturday afternoon, pleading with them to save her daughter’s life despite being seriously injured herself.

Using clothes from the store to stop the bleeding, shoppers and staff desperately tried to stabilize the pair until emergency services arrived on the scene.

The girl is currently in a serious but stable condition after undergoing emergency surgery. Despite the efforts of bystanders and paramedics, her mother later died in hospital.

Tommy Hilfiger staff, along with employees from sister company Calvin Klein, gathered at the memorial in the Oxford Street shopping center on Monday morning to honor the victims of the attack.

The group could be seen hugging each other as they burst into tears after placing bouquets of flowers on the ground.

The Calvin Klein manager told Daily Mail Australia Tommy Hilfiger staff worked to save the baby and her mother’s life by collecting clothes from the store and helping compress their wounds.

Shortly after leaving the memorial, members of the group were seen hugging each other as they sobbed on a wooden bench.

“It’s still pretty raw for them,” she said.

The stores, both owned by parent company PVH Corp, are located on level four, but on either side of the center.

When chaos broke out on Saturday, both stores went into lockdown.

Two brothers who were at the Tommy Hilfiger store and helped save the baby described their ordeal to a Channel Nine journalist live on air moments after they were evacuated from the center on Saturday.

“The baby was stabbed and, yes, the mother was stabbed,” one brother said.

‘The mother came to me with the baby and threw him at me.

“I just helped by holding the baby… and trying to compress the baby.”

The manager said she had organized a meeting for staff at the two stores so they could support each other as they returned to the scene of the tragedy.

She said she was not working on Saturday but was “so proud” of her team for acting quickly to reach shoppers.

“KJ, here,” she said, gently patting another visibly upset woman on the back, “took care of everyone and got them to safety.”

A Calvin Klein employee said she was on a break when the devastation began to unfold.

“I was walking downtown and was on the phone and thought it was funny that there were people running,” she said.

“Then suddenly I saw people hiding in stores and heard shouting and gunshots.”

When asked how it felt to be back on site, she said “strange.”

‘It’s really scary. You feel a little tense when you’re in public.”

Although a reopening date for the center has yet to be announced, workers and shoppers have now been given access to collect their cars after police closed the scene on Monday.

As the group left, a worker – whose car was still parked in Westfield – was seen bracing herself for the daunting task of re-entering the building to retrieve her vehicle.

Police were called to the busy shopping center at 3.20pm on Saturday – the first day of the school holidays – after Joel Cauchi, a 40-year-old with schizophrenia, began slaughtering shoppers with a hunting knife, killing six people and at least a dozen were injured. others.

Images posted online show the chaos and terror that erupted as shoppers fled for their lives and ran through the center, while others took shelter in closed shops.

Inspector Amy Scott was patrolling the area and was the first on the scene. She entered the shopping center alone and bravely ran towards the perpetrator before shooting him dead when he came towards her with the knife.

Advertising heiress Dawn Singleton, 25, architect Jade Young, 47, artist Pikria Darchia, 55, security guard Faraz Tahir, 30, and Chinese student Yixuan Cheng, 27, died at the scene.

Twelve others – including Ms Good and her daughter – were rushed to hospitals across Sydney in varying circumstances.

While the investigation is still in its early stages, police have revealed Cauchi was originally from Queensland but moved to Sydney about a month ago.

He had long-term mental health problems after being diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 17. Authorities were trying to determine what level of care he had received and whether he had fallen through the cracks in the mental health system.

Cauchi lived a transient lifestyle and was believed to have slept rough in Sydney.

It is believed he has not had regular contact with his family and is off his medication.

On Monday, NSW Premier Chris Minns announced $18 million in funding for an independent inquiry into Saturday’s tragedy.