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PE Nation founder Pip Edwards has relived, in harrowing detail, what she saw as she lay trapped just two metres from two gunmen as they unleashed horror on Bondi Beach.
Sajid Akram, 50, and his 24-year-old son Naveed Akram are alleged to be the attackers who fired repeatedly at innocent families attending the Chanukah by the Sea festival marking the start of Hanukkah on Sunday, December 14 – an incident that left at least 16 people dead and 42 injured.
Sydney socialite and Ksubi creative director Pip had spent Sunday at the beach with her friend Jess Engels. She had earlier shared a series of snaps of the pair larking around on the sand to her Instagram Stories.
Less than two hours later, the friends would find themselves thrust right into the centre of the terror attack – forced to hide just metres from the killers as they fired deadly rounds at the crowds.
On Monday, Pip took to Instagram to share a lengthy statement about what she’d witnessed, describing it as an experience she “can’t comprehend nor will probably ever fully grasp”.
“The gunman fired his first round of shots right behind my girlfriend and I as we had just passed the bridge where they were standing, heading in the direction of the Jewish event/celebration on the Bondi grass,” Pip explained.
“We immediately ducked between two parked vans as the shots continued to fire incessantly, and quite literally as close as two metres away.
“We had to immediately take refuge under a van and watched the gunman’s feet with his gun pace in front of the van right at our heads, using our van as his post.
“His feet were in front of the van and another gunman’s feet were behind, circling the van,” she went on.
“There was a civilian yelling out to them from a van next to us, which distracted them and pulled them away from our van.”
Pip went on to say the gunmen were shooting “at everything and everyone”, explaining that cars were being hit, including the van she was hiding beneath.
“I was convulsing with fear, trapped, thinking this was it for us, just monitoring the movement of their feet,” Pip shared.
“In that moment, all we could do was hold tight onto each other, squeezing together so close, in hope.”
Pip said she was “so lucky” to have had Jess there “protecting” her all the way. “I am forever in debt for how heroic and calm she was, trying to keep me together,” she wrote.
“The shots kept firing and we rolled from side to side under the van to hide behind the wheels, as the gunmen’s feet walked around us, trying not to be seen,” Pip continued.
“We were under there for 15 minutes in complete panic, shock, almost frozen, couldn’t breathe because we didn’t want to be heard, and when the deafening gunshots finally stopped, our friend Chris broke through all the barriers to come find us, save us, and extract us from under the van.”
Pip finished her post by saying she couldn’t “comprehend nor compute” what had happened.
“All I can say is that I am beyond grateful to have survived. I love my son beyond words, and I love my family and friends so much – love is all that matters.
“From the carnage that I heard and saw firsthand, my heart bleeds for us all.”
Pip said she was “properly shook to the core and grieving for all who died, all who were injured and those who survived and are now trying to make sense of what is the most inhumane, profoundly senseless act ever”.
“Thank you to everyone for reaching out,” she concluded. “I’ll endeavour to get back to you all eventually. But for now, it’s a day-by-day situation that is already feeling like a mega turbulent rollercoaster in a weird horror movie that can’t stop playing over and over.
“It’s something I will never unsee nor unhear”.
