'No Regret, Would Do It Again': Sydney Bondi Beach Hero Who Tackled Shooter May Lose His Arm

Last Updated:December 16, 2025, 10:36 IST

Ahmed al Ahmed, hailed as a hero for disarming a shooter at Bondi Beach, endures severe injuries but remains grateful to Australia. Global support and praise continue to pour in.

Ahmed al Ahmed is recovering from his first round of surgery. (Image: X)

Ahmed al Ahmed, the 44-year-old bystander hailed as a hero for tackling and disarming one of the shooters at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, has said he does not regret his actions and would do it again despite the severe pain he is enduring.

“He doesn’t regret what he did. He said he’d do it again. But the pain has started to take a toll on him," Sam Issa, Ahmed’s migration lawyer, said on Monday night after visiting him at St George Hospital in Kogarah. “He’s not well at all. He’s riddled with bullets. Our hero is struggling at the moment," Issa told news outlet The Age.

While Ahmed is recovering from his first round of surgery, his lawyer fears he may lose his left arm. According to Issa, Ahmed sustained about five bullet wounds across his left arm, while one lodged in the back of his left shoulder blade—described as “weird"—has yet to be removed. “He’s a lot worse than expected. When you think of a bullet in the arm, you don’t think of serious injuries, but he has lost a lot of blood," Issa said.

Having been granted Australian citizenship in 2022, Ahmed told Issa he feels “indebted" to the community. “Ahmed’s a humble man, he’s not interested in coverage, he just did what he was compelled to do as a human being on that day," Issa said. “He gets that gratitude from being in Australia. This is his way of conveying his gratitude for staying in Australia, for being granted citizenship. He has really appreciated this community, and he felt that as a member of the community, he had to act that way and contribute."

After his heroic act, support for Ahmed has poured in from across the globe. A GoFundMe page set up for him by CarHub Australia has raised over $1.7 million from more than 29,000 donors, including US billionaire Bill Ackman ($99,999), Hollywood comedian Amy Schumer ($2,257), and Australian musician Kid Laroi ($5,000). Schumer shared a photo of NSW Premier Chris Minns visiting Ahmed in hospital on Instagram.

Ahmed’s parents, Fateh and Malaka, said he was in “good spirits" on Monday. Ahmed is being praised widely for tackling the shooter while being unarmed. US President Donald Trump also praised him, saying, “In Australia, as you’ve probably read, there’s been a very, very brave person who went and attacked frontally one of the shooters…[He] saved a lot of lives, a very brave person who is right now in the hospital, pretty seriously wounded…I have great respect for the man who did that."

A Muslim who arrived in Australia from Syria in 2006, Ahmed is a tobacco shop owner and father to two daughters, aged five and six, whose courage has made him a symbol of selflessness and resilience.

News world 'No Regret, Would Do It Again': Sydney Bondi Beach Hero Who Tackled Shooter May Lose His Arm

Read More