As Swimmers Ran From Attack, Popular Photo Depicts Beach Patrol Sprinting ‘Full Speed’ To the Location.
Alexandra Ching, a lifelong inhabitant of Bondi, has always considered the iconic shoreline as her personal space. On that fateful weekend evening, she, like many others in the area, noticed cracking sounds reverberating around the community.
“We all thought the same, but I reasoned it was too light and there was nothing visible,” Ching recounts. Exiting her residence, she saw people “pouring up Bondi Road”. The faces on display signaled a crisis was unfolding.
As she stood on the avenue, talking to a couple who had hurried up the slope soaked, she became aware of someone coming up behind her. This turned out to be a beach patrol officer, sprinting towards Bondi without shoes from the nearby Tamarama beach – a distance of 1.5km – while carrying a life-saving kit.
“I caught a voice saying ‘excuse me’, and when I spun around I spotted this blur of blue,” she recounts. “He was simply racing by. It was just him moving in the opposite way that all the others was trying to flee, while holding that big kit and barefoot … He was sprinting towards something that undoubtedly every part of you would instruct you to move in the opposite direction.
“Just no hesitation, but just fully maximum effort racing.”
A Symbol of Courage In the Wake of Crisis
The photograph that Ching snapped of the lifeguard, later named as Jackson Doolan, quickly spread as among numerous moments of valour in the wake of the terror attack.
Andy Reid, another lifeguard, noted that Doolan, known as “Jacko”, ran from Tamarama beach to assist the other members at Bondi, as well as to aid other rescuers, officers and paramedics treating many the injured.
Community Response and Support
Doolan’s actions was just one of many to emerge from the local area, with the lifeguard clubhouse adjacent to the site of the attack serving as a temporary treatment center. Accounts show that fellow lifeguards were also seen taking action, for instance entering the water to rescue people who were struggling.
In the days after the tragedy, messages of support circulated widely. A social media message expressed appreciation for the responders who showed that “kindness will always triumph over evil”.
The group of rescuers published a statement, explaining they were “processing what happened”.
“We are grateful all for your supportive words and encouragement. We are overwhelmed by the compassion shown towards our personnel,” the group wrote. “Eventually, we will tell our tales in the aim that it helps those impacted.”
Local Government Commendation
Waverley council, the administrative organization that oversees many professional beach safety officers, stated that the staff performed exceptionally from the instant the violence commenced right into late that nighttime.
“We have heard so many moving stories, but the popular image of Jackson Doolan, sprinting from Tamarama to Bondi with a AED so he could help preserve life is remarkable,” commented a local official.
“Our lifeguards show selflessness every day in maintaining the safety of our world-famous coastlines protected for surfers and swimmers, but what we witnessed on that day should be highly praised.
“While we mourn and grapple with the atrocity of this brutal and barbaric tragedy, I think it is important that we consider just how much positivity we have seen in the presence of such hatred.”
