by Yoav Etiel, Jerusalem Post Staff
A friend of Israeli national Gefen Bitton, who was shot three times by the Bondi Beach shooters, said that he was "currently in the ICU, after multiple surgeries, and has a long way to go."
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Israeli national Gefen Bitton, who ran towards the Bondi Beach shooters to try and stop them, has been hospitalized and is in a coma, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Saturday.
Bitton was seriously wounded while trying to assist and stop the attackers. The man in his 30s works as a garage door installer. Although he had initially managed to escape the danger, he chose to return to the scene upon realising what was happening.
"Not a mere bystander, but an absolute hero who deserves recognition,” his friend Cay Barr said, as per the Morning Herald. “He is currently in the ICU, after multiple surgeries, and has a long way to go. We are praying that in the next few days, he will be stable enough to wake up.”
Social media footage shows Bitton approaching one of the attackers with another man, appearing to distract the gunman in an effort to protect others.
Israeli citizen who tried to stop Bondi attackers in coma
Australian media reported that Bitton has undergone complex surgeries and remains in the intensive care unit. His condition is described as serious but stable, and he is suffering from significant internal wounds. Friends and relatives say he does not see himself as a hero, having acted purely on instinct.Bitton had gone to Bondi Beach to celebrate Hanukkah with a friend after a long day of hiking. When the shooting began, Bitton and his friend ran away.
Within seconds, Bitton had vanished. Another friend later received a call from Bitton’s sister in Israel: “My brother just called. He said he was shot twice, and then the line disconnected.”
From that point, relatives and friends searched for any sign of him. With no information on his whereabouts or condition, they combed Bondi. They later went from hospital to hospital until he was located at St Vincent’s Hospital, already undergoing surgery for multiple gunshot wounds.
Bitton’s father, who flew in from Israel, joined the effort to reconstruct the sequence of events. Using the Find My Phone app, they determined Bitton’s last recorded location was nearer the site of the shooting than the area where he had been sitting.
A breakthrough came when friends analysing footage from the scene recognised the man in the red shirt beside Ahmed al-Ahmed. Bitton’s clothing was recalled by the friend who had been with him earlier, and his father confirmed the identification. Bitton had fled but then ran back toward the attacker to help. When Ahmed al-Ahmed bravely jumped at the gunman, Bitton was beside him. He was shot, fell, and was shot again.
“It was a moment of extreme courage,” one acquaintance said. “He thought only about the people around him.”
Although public interest in Bitton has grown, he has remained quiet. His family and friends have asked that his privacy be respected while he recovers, and that the focus remain on his treatment.
“Gefen’s put his own life at risk with his selfless actions,” the family’s statement read, as reported by the Herald. "Gefen – an unarmed Israeli civilian, living in peace in Australia – made a decision most of us couldn’t even think of. He ran into the face of danger like only a hero does, guided by the values on which he was educated and raised. A true hero that deserves recognition.”
Yoav Etiel, Jerusalem Post Staff
Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-880836
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