A day of celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach turned into a scene of terror during a Hanukkah event, where a 14-year-old girl displayed extraordinary bravery in the face of gunfire. Chaya Dadon, herself a child, became a human shield for two young children, an act of selflessness that resulted in her being shot.
A Day of Light Shattered by Violence
Chaya Dadon has attended the Chanukah by the Sea event at Bondi her entire life. Her father and Rabbi Eli Schlanger have organised the community gathering for 25 years. This Sunday afternoon, what should have been a joyful celebration of unity was violently interrupted.
"(There's) just so much love, and it was that, even minutes before all the shooting," Chaya recalled. After buying a necklace and heading towards the petting zoo with a friend, the first shots rang out. Initially mistaking them for fireworks, the reality set in as security guards yelled for everyone to take cover.
An Impulse to Protect: 'I Could Not Watch Those Little Kids Die'
Chaya and her friend hid under a bench. Next to them, she saw two women who had been shot. They had been standing with two young children. "I was hearing: 'Save my son, please save my kids. I beg you guys, please save my kids.' And no one was doing anything," Chaya told 7NEWS.com.au.
Despite the danger and people screaming for her to save herself, the teenager made a split-second decision. "I could not watch those little kids die, so I climbed up from under the bench, and I jumped on top of the kids, and I grabbed them from their mum," she said. Chaya pushed the children to the ground and used her own body as a shield as the gunmen, a father and son, continued firing into the crowd.
To calm the terrified children, she led them in a prayer called Shema, having them repeat the words. "That's what I truly believe saved me," she said. It was in this moment of protection that Chaya was shot in the leg. "I thought there was just a hole in my skirt... It was like a hole and it went through my skin," she described, hiding her pain to avoid frightening the children.
Aftermath and a Community's Resilience
Unable to get through to emergency services, Chaya called her father, who raced to find her. With ambulances overwhelmed, a Bondi surf lifesaver transported her on a surfboard to a police car for the journey to hospital. She has since undergone surgery to remove a bullet the size of a 20-cent coin and is recovering with crutches.
The tragedy claimed 15 lives, including Rabbi Eli Schlanger, a close family friend. Chaya's cousin, the Rabbi's wife, was with her in hospital when she learned of her husband's death. "That was the most painful thing for me," Chaya said.
Her mother, Shterny Dadon, who was in Israel at the time, flew back immediately. "I just keep on telling (her), you're a hero," Shterny said. She expressed profound pride in her daughter's courage but also a sense of let-down by authorities regarding rising antisemitism since the October 7 attacks.
"We're right in the middle of Hanukkah, which is about bringing light to the world," Shterny said. "We're a very united community, we're very strong and we're not gonna let this win... because we can't let hate win over light." Chaya and her family are yet to learn the fate of the two women and the children she protected.
