Bondi massacre hero Chaya Dadon has been nominated for Australian of the Year after shielding children from gunfire during the horrific December 14 attack.
The then-14-year-old showed extraordinary bravery when she placed herself between armed attackers and younger children at the Chanukah by the Sea event in Bondi, acting as a human shield as bullets tore through the crowd.
‘I knew in that moment, I felt like Hashem was sitting right next to me,’ she said in an interview with Reuters, using a Hebrew name for God. ‘He was whispering into my ear, “This is your mission: go save those kids”.’
The schoolgirl left the safety of her hiding spot, pulled the children away, and jumped on top of them, covering their bodies with her own. At some point, she was shot in the thigh, but she kept shielding them, reciting the Shema, a Jewish prayer.
‘I knew I got shot, but I wasn’t even worried, I channelled all that energy that I had into strength and I made sure that I knew I had to be there for those kids,’ she said.
‘If I could give up my life saving these children, that’s what I was going to do.’
Her father eventually found them and took her to get help. ‘When he found me, he told me this after, that I had the girl in this arm and the boy in this arm. And I was just kissing them.’
‘I don’t feel like I’m a hero. I feel like everyone was a hero in that situation,’ said the teenager, who attended the annual event with a friend.
Bondi massacre hero Chaya Dadon has been nominated for Australian of the Year after shielding children from gunfire during the horrific December 14 attack.
The schoolgirl left the safety of her hiding spot, pulled the children away and jumped on top of them, covering their bodies with her own
‘I’ve been going my whole life,’ she said. ‘It’s usually such an amazing event.’
Ms Dadon spent four days at the Sydney Children’s Hospital before returning home last month. She is now walking with crutches, which she has decorated with stickers commemorating some of those who were killed.
She still does not know the children she shielded but hopes to connect with them again.
‘Those little kids that have been through things that no one should have been through,’ she said, adding that the ordeal would make the Jewish community stronger.
‘Even if they can’t see it now, everyone is going to grow stronger because I really feel like that situation, everyone was tested.’
