Two French citizens who fended off the attacker responsible for the Westfield Bondi stabbing say the days since the attack have been a whirlwind.
They grabbed bollards to keep the attacker at a distance - and that act of bravery has catapulted them into the public eye both in Australia and in France.French construction workers Damien Guerot and Silas Despréaux were in the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre on their way to the gym at the moment when 40-year-old Joel Cauchi, armed with a knife, embarked on a mass stabbing ] that killed six people and badly injured 12 more, including an infant.
"When we first saw him facing us, and the people around that were on the ground after being stabbed, our first reaction, like everybody else, was to run away. But then we found the bollard. We needed to defend ourselves. And that’s when Silas went with no cover downstairs. We tried to hit him but he was out of range, and then the assailant ran in the opposite direction. We ran after him with our bollards, and that’s when he reached that escalator. He was one floor below us.
In the days that followed, the pair thought the whole ordeal was over - but it was the calm before the storm. "To get permanent residency in Australia, for some it’s a walk in the park and for others, it’s a real quest! I did two years of working holidays, had to work in farms, then I had to get a student visa for five years, and then a Covid visa, while I was preparing a skilled visa. Which is why I still can't believe I’ve got permanent residency. I’ve wanted it for a very long time and I feel incredibly lucky, especially because it was granted by the Prime Minister.
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