The hero who was shot as he tackled one of the Bondi Beach terrorists had told a relative he expected to be killed, it emerged Monday — as supporters flooded a fundraiser to collect more than $1 million in under a day.
Ahmed el Ahmed, a 43-year-old father of two from Syria, was seen in a heart-stopping video as he crept up and tackled one of the father-son terrorists who killed 15 people Sunday night at a Hanukkah celebration at the popular beach just outside of Sydney, Australia.
Just before rushing in, the hero told a cousin, Jozay Alkanj, that he was expected to pay the ultimate price.
“He said ‘I’m going to die, please see my family and tell them that I went down to save people’s lives,’” Alkanj told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Ahmed was shot twice in the arm during his heroic act, and was rushed to a hospital for surgery.
The fruit stand owner was photographed with his entire left arm bandaged as he was visited by New South Wales Premier Chris Minns at St George Hospital in Sydney on Monday.
“Ahmed is a real-life hero,” Minn said. “His incredible bravery no doubt saved countless lives when he disarmed a terrorist at enormous personal risk.”
More than 25,000 people have raised the equivalent of just over $1 million for Ahmed on GoFundMe — with the biggest single donation from US billionaire Bill Ackman, who gave the equivalent of nearly $66,500.
“No one expects to be a hero, but when the moment came, he was,” the fundraiser’s organizers wrote.
Ahmed’s lawyer, Sam Issa, said that the hero “doesn’t regret what he did,” despite getting shot.
“He said he’d do it again. But the pain has started to take a toll on him,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Ahmed’s father, Mohamed, also spoke of his pride at his son preventing more bloodshed.
“My son is a hero,” Mohamed told CNN. “He had the impulse to save people… I am so proud of my son because he is a hero to all of Australia.”
Ahmed had been living in Australia since 2006, where he is raising two daughters, ages three and six, his parents told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The local hero had just welcomed his parents to Sydney a few months ago after the refugees arrived from Syria.
Alkanj, the cousin, said that he and Ahmed walked by the Hanukkah celebration and were offered food just moments before gunfire erupted.
“We needed a coffee,’ Alkanj said. “It was then just ten minutes before this happened like that. It was very crazy, we went behind the cars, we were seeing that people were shooting very near to us.”
Dramatic video shows Ahmed creep up behind the shotgun-wielding gunman and wrestle the weapon away from him.
He points the weapon at the terrorist, who falls to the ground, and appears to consider shooting him before the gunman scampers away. Ahmed was shot twice in the arm by the second terrorist during his heroic act.
The father and son terrorists killed 15 people in the horror that lasted more than 10 minutes.
The 50-year-old father, who was killed, arrived in Australia in 1998 on a student visa, authorities said, and was an Australian resident when he died. Officials wouldn’t confirm what country he had migrated from.
His 24-year-old Australian-born son, who was shot and wounded, is being treated at a hospital
