As Swimmers Ran From Danger, Widely-Shared Image Shows Lifeguard Running ‘Pedal to the Metal’ Towards the Location.

Alexandra Ching, a lifelong inhabitant of Bondi, describes the iconic beach as her personal space. On that fateful weekend night, she, like many local residents, detected loud noises ringing out across the neighbourhood.

“Everyone did, but I considered it was still too bright and you couldn't spot any lights,” Ching recounts. She left her apartment, she saw people “streaming up Bondi Road”. Their expressions they wore told her trouble had occurred.

Positioned on the road, speaking to a couple who had run up the slope still dripping wet, she heard someone coming up at her rear. This turned out to be a beach patrol officer, running at full speed towards Bondi barefoot from the nearby Tamarama beach – about 1.5km – while carrying a medical device.

“I noticed a person utter ‘excuse me’, and as I turned I spotted this streak in blue,” she recalls. “He was zooming past. He was alone running in the direction that everyone was trying to flee, while holding that big kit and barefoot … He moved into something that undoubtedly every instinct would tell you to go in the opposite direction.

“Just no hesitation, but just fully pedal to the metal sprinting.”

A Powerful Moment of Bravery During Chaos

The photograph Ching captured of the lifeguard, later named as Jackson Doolan, was widely shared as a prime example of instances of courage in the following of the terror attack.

Andy Reid, a second beach safety officer, explained that Doolan, called “Jacko”, sprinted from Tamarama beach to assist the remaining crew at Bondi, as well as to aid emergency personnel, officers and ambulance crews caring for many those hurt.

Local Response and Assistance

Doolan’s story was a single example among several to come out of the local area, with the lifeguard clubhouse next to the scene of the violence serving as a temporary medical station. It was shared that other team members were also seen helping out, for instance entering the water to rescue people needing help.

After the attack, comments of support flooded in. One post conveyed appreciation for the responders who exhibited that “compassion will always conquer darkness”.

The group of rescuers issued a communication, saying they were “coming to terms with what occurred”.

“We are grateful all for your kind sentiments and support. We are deeply moved by the compassion directed at our responders,” the organization stated. “In time, we will recount our experiences in the belief that it helps those affected.”

Official Praise

Waverley council, the administrative organization that employs many permanent beach safety officers, remarked that the crew acted heroically from the instant the shooting began through to late that nighttime.

“People have shared so many moving accounts, but the popular picture of Jackson Doolan, racing from Tamarama to Bondi with a medical device so he could help assist the injured is remarkable,” commented a council representative.

“These individuals exhibit selflessness every day in keeping our internationally renowned beaches secure for visitors, but what we observed on that day should be commended.

“As we grieve and grapple with the atrocity of this brutal and barbaric act of violence, I think it is vital that we focus on just how much good we have seen in the face of such evil.”