A Jewish Australian mother has described the terrifying moment she was forced to run for her life in high heels alongside her daughter during the deadly terror attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney.
A Celebration Shattered by Gunfire
Lissy Abrahams, 57, and her 23-year-old daughter had been on the sands last Sunday to mark a 13-year-old boy's Bar Mitzvah. As they walked through Archer Park adjacent to the beach, her daughter pointed out a group lighting candles on a Hanukkiah for Hanukkah. "Straight after she said that, I heard gunshots," Lissy told the Daily Mail.
She instantly recognised the sound. "It was a particular rhythm, it kind of went bang... bang and then a double bang again. I've heard it before. A lot of Jews have seen footage of October 7 and beyond and so we've heard it. The rhythm of terror." The alleged gunmen, Sajid Akram, 50, and his son Naveed Akram, 24, were just ten to twenty metres away, opening fire on the Hanukkah celebrations.
The Desperate Flight to Safety
Amidst the confusion of the crowd, Lissy's survival instinct kicked in. "Just run. Get running," she instructed her daughter. Hampered by her high-heeled shoes, she faced a critical choice. "I had to make a decision about whether I stopped to take my shoes off so I could run faster, or just keep running, because if I stopped I was really worried that I might be killed."
She chose to keep them on, deeming it too dangerous to pause. Her daughter, in flat shoes, could have fled faster but refused to leave her mother behind despite Lissy's pleas. "She said 'I can't leave you'... I said 'You have to go'." Together, they ran along the promenade until they found refuge in a concrete storage unit beneath a lifeguard hut, joining 40-50 other terrified people.
Taking Charge in the Hideout
Lissy, a therapist who previously lived in London during the 7/7 bombings, quickly took control. She informed the huddled group, "This is a terrorist attack, and we all need to be very careful." She insisted on closing the unit's rolling garage doors to shield them from view, overriding a single protester by stating they could either stay with the doors shut or leave and risk the outside.
With the doors secured, her daughter called the police. During the agonising 15-20 minute wait, Lissy recalled advice from Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi's book, focusing on the idea that "you've always got choices." She also made a conscious decision to honour her daughter's instinct to hide at the back of the unit, despite favouring the front herself for a potential escape.
Aftermath and a Call for Unity
When an official finally knocked to release them, the scene outside was one of chaos. "There were helicopters, there were ambulances, all the sirens going off. It was terrifying," Lissy said. The pair flagged down a pickup truck to escape, warning passers-by to avoid the beach.
At home, shaken and in "waves of tears," they watched the news unfold. The attack claimed 15 lives, including a 10-year-old girl, a British-born rabbi, a retired police officer, and a Holocaust survivor. Heroically, Boris Gurman, 69, and his wife Sofia, 61, were killed trying to disarm the attackers.
Lissy, who humbly rejected the label of hero, said she had feared such an attack since October 7. "We've been warning the prime minister, we've been warning institutions... that this was going to happen." She concluded with a powerful message: "I want this experience to be used to galvanise the country... This is not about turning on Muslims... I want to see much more social cohesion."
Police allege the attackers were inspired by the Islamic terror group ISIS, whose flag was found in their car. Sajid Akram, who entered Australia from India in 1998, was killed at the scene. His Australian-born son Naveed, a licensed firearms holder, is in hospital with critical injuries.
