Westfield Bondi Junction: Joe Tomarchio saw Ashlee Good and her baby daughter Harriet get stabbed by Joel Cauchi and leapt into action to save the little girl’s life. But it wasn’t the first time he’d been the hero of the hour
EXCLUSIVE
A hero who saved the nine-month-old baby stabbed during the Westfield Bondi Junction attack had previously made headlines for his heroism.
Brothers Joe and Rick Tomarchio were at the mall Saturday afternoon when Joel Cauchi, 40, a schizophrenic man who had stopped taking his medication, began his killing spree.
After witnessing mum Ashlee Good, 38, and her baby daughter Harriet being stabbed, the siblings quickly led the pair to Tommy Hilfiger in a desperate bid to save their lives – using clothes from the store to compress their wounds.
Their harrowing account of their ordeal became one of the first stories about the unfolding incident when they spoke to a new reporter at the scene, moments after they were finally evacuated from the center.
Now Daily Mail Australia can reveal that Sydney banker Joe was publicly praised in 2010 after he stopped to help an elderly woman who fell and crushed her head on the road in the city’s CBD.
Brothers Rick (left) and Joe Tomarchio (right) saved the life of a nine-month-old baby during the Bondi massacre on Saturday
The Good Samaritan held her head high and called on other bystanders to help him as they waited for an ambulance to arrive.
‘It was automatic. I knew someone had to take control of the situation,” Tomarchio told media at the time.
“I took her hand and told her everything was going to be okay.
‘I then asked where she worked, tried to keep her talking and really made her feel comfortable, and then enlisted the help of the local construction workers.’
Mr Tomarchio, who was walking to work when he witnessed the woman’s fall, said he was surprised no one else had stopped to help as she lay in the road during rush hour.
The woman’s daughter called him a star and said that when she first saw her mother, she thought she was dead.
“Joe was the star. The way he stayed so calm and just held her hand, I can’t thank him enough,” she said at the time.
The baby’s mother, Ashlee Good (pictured) is one of six people who died in the tragedy
Pictured: The Tommy Hilfiger store in Bondi Junction where workers fought to save the life of a nine-month-old girl
Joel Cauchi from Queensland is pictured with a 30cm hunting knife on the escalator at Westfield shopping center at Bondi Junction on Saturday afternoon
Police were called to Bondi Junction about 3.20pm on Saturday after Cauchi began rampaging through the shopping center with a hunting knife, sending hundreds of terrified shoppers fleeing for their lives or seeking shelter in stores.
As shoppers filed out of the Westfield, a witness interrupted a Nine News reporter conducting a live cross on the street and pointed to one of the brothers and said: ‘He’s a hero – he saved the baby.’
Clearly shaken, Rick Tomarchio recalled using clothes from a store to try to stop the baby’s bleeding.
“The baby was stabbed and, yes, the mother was stabbed,” Rick Tomarchio 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 brothers stayed with the mother and called emergency services.
“(It was) really bad… a lot of blood on the floor… I hope the baby is okay,” Joe Tomarchio said.
Despite their efforts, Mrs Good later died after being rushed to hospital. Her little girl underwent emergency surgery due to serious injuries, but has miraculously improved in recent days and is now out of intensive care and stable.
In an online post, a family member revealed that the brothers are modest and would be shocked by the fame they have garnered.
‘It was automatic. I knew someone had to take control of the situation,” Tomarchio told the media in 2010 after helping a woman on the street
“Rick and Joe are the most amazing people who have so much compassion,” the family member said.
‘They did their best.
“They will be mentally afraid for a long time.”
Cauchi, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, had moved to Sydney in recent months and was said to have been sleeping rough.
Police are treating the tragedy as mental health related, with his parents telling reporters earlier this week that he had stopped taking his medication in recent years.
The horror attack also claimed the lives of young bride Dawn Singleton, 25, architect and mother-of-two Jade Young, artist and designer Pikria Darchia, 55, Chinese student Yixuan Cheng, 27, and Pakistani refugee and security guard. Faraz Tahir, 30.
Eleven others were rushed to hospitals in Sydney with various injuries, while six others remained in hospital, including two women in intensive care.
READ MORE: How brave Westfield Bondi Junction shop workers saved a girl’s life as her mother lay dying
Store employees from Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger lay flowers at the Bondi Junction memorial on Monday