Bondi Bloodbath: Brave 14-Year-Old Girl Saves Young Lives as Gunmen Unleash Hell at Chanukah Celebration
- Terrified teenager Chaya Dadon selflessly shields two children from gunfire with her own body, saving their lives.
- The 14-year-old girl is shot in the process, but remarkably, she feels a deep connection to God in that moment.
- The horrific incident has left the Jewish community reeling, with Chaya’s mother Shterny demanding action from the government to tackle rising antisemitism.
“I was just holding them, I was hugging them. I said: ‘It’s gonna be okay’,” Chaya Dadon, 14, recalled, her voice still shaking with emotion. In a moment of unparalleled bravery, this young teenager risked her life to save two innocent children from a hail of bullets at the Chanukah by the Sea event in Bondi.
As gunmen opened fire on the crowded celebration, Chaya saw two women shot, screaming for help as they clutched their children. Without hesitation, the teenager jumped out from under the bench where she was hiding and ran towards the kids, shielding them with her own body as shots rang out.
“Everyone was screaming, get down, get down, save yourself, save yourself,” Chaya said. But she refused to abandon the children, instead pushing them to the ground and covering them with her own body.
In a heart-wrenching display of selflessness, Chaya led a prayer called Shema with the children, getting them to repeat the words as they were too young to have memorised it themselves. It was in that moment that Chaya was shot, but remarkably, she felt an intense connection to God.
“That was the moment where I felt God the most, like I felt so connected, and I felt so powerful that it just gave me so much strength and so much hope,” Chaya said.
Chaya’s mother, Shterny, was in Israel at the time of the attack and rushed back to be by her daughter’s side. She is still reeling from the incident, but couldn’t be prouder of her daughter’s courage.
“I just keep on telling her, you’re a hero, and you’ve not only saved people’s lives, but you’re also for yourself, given such a horrible situation, you now have at least something positive that will help her with her healing, to know that she’s able to have made such a difference,” Shterny said.
The Jewish community is still in shock, but Shterny is adamant that they will not be intimidated by this senseless act of violence. “We’re a very united community, we’re very strong and we’re not gonna let this win and (we will) come back stronger than we were before because we can’t let hate win over light.”