A ‘hero’ who rushed to help a mother and nine-month-old baby after they were stabbed by a knifeman in Westfield Bondi Junction has told how he worked desperately to keep the child alive.
A major incident took place at the major shopping center in Sydney’s eastern suburbs at around 3.30pm on Saturday afternoon after a knifeman went on a rampage, stabbing several people and killing at least four.
Witnesses said the dark-haired man, wearing a Kangaroos NRL top, slashed and chased shoppers before being shot by a female police officer.
It is understood that the baby is undergoing surgery and the mother is in critical condition in hospital.
A witness interrupted a Nine News reporter conducting a live cross in Bondi Junction and pointed to his brother and said: ‘He’s a hero – he saved the baby.’
The two brothers used clothes and shirts from a store to stop the baby’s bleeding
The clearly shaken hero said: ‘The baby was stabbed and, yes, the mother was stabbed.
‘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.”
He stood by the mother, tried to compress the blood with clothes from a store and called the emergency services.
“(It was) really bad… a lot of blood on the floor… I hope the baby is okay,” the other brother said.
Blood came from her mouth, the mother said.
Another witness, a mall employee, recalled seeing a mother screaming on the floor above.
“I see a mother and maybe her partner with a baby in a pram,” she told Nine News.
‘She screams very, very loudly. She runs back and forth, not knowing what to do.
“Then she comes back to the stroller and picks up her baby, and there’s just blood on her back.
‘The scream was unforgettable, it was the scariest thing I have ever seen.
‘My colleague took me away, we locked all the doors, had to turn off all the lights and doors.’