A couple has recounted the harrowing experience of searching for their three-year-old daughter amidst a hail of gunfire on Bondi Beach in Australia, which occurred on December 14.
Wayne and Vanessa Miller feared they might never see their daughter again when she went missing during the violent incident on Sunday night at the bustling beach area.
At 18.47pm local time, two gunmen launched an attack that resulted in the deaths of 15 individuals, specifically targeting the Jewish community who were celebrating the first night of Hanukkah.
One shooter was killed at the scene, while the other, thought to be his son, remains in critical condition at the hospital.
As the gunfire erupted, Wayne was able to grab one of his daughters, Capri, and sought cover under a table. “I just lay on top of her,” he shared with Sky News Australia.
Unbeknownst to him, his other daughter, Gigi, had wandered off while playing in the park near her mother.
Only when Vanessa called to check if he had Gigi did Wayne realize she was missing, unaware that a stranger was keeping her safe.
Wayne recounted: “Maybe a minute later, Vanessa called and said: ‘Have you got Gigi?’, and I responded, ‘I don’t have Gigi,’ she didn’t have Gigi, and that’s when the absolute panic just set in.”
The distressed mother sprang into action to find their daughter.
“All I can do is scream: ‘Where is my family? Where’s my little girl? Where’s my little girl?’ I saw her dancing for a second, and she was gone,” Vanessa described.
As she bravely searched, a New South Wales Police officer, who had been ‘shot in the head’, attempted to pull her down for safety, but she pressed on undeterred.
“I actually tried to grab the policeman’s gun, and he grabbed me. I was ready to just get in there and just – I didn’t know what to do. I could just see blood everywhere, and then I stayed down. The bullets stopped,” Vanessa explained to the outlet.
Meanwhile, Gigi’s father stayed low for what ‘felt like hours’, waiting for the shooting to subside before joining his wife in the frantic search for their daughter.
After handing Capri over to Vanessa, Wayne resumed his desperate search for Gigi, who was dressed in a pink t-shirt.
Ultimately, Wayne found relief when he discovered Gigi under a woman.
The woman, named Jess, informed Wayne that she had been shielding Gigi during the attack, sustaining bullet wounds in the process.
Gigi’s protector was hospitalized but fortunately survived the ordeal.
Before she was taken away, Wayne spent 10 minutes speaking with Jess, expressing his deep appreciation and assuring her he would be forever grateful for her bravery.
Wayne and Vanessa were among the many affected by the deadly attack in Australia on Sunday, coinciding with an event marking the first day of Hanukkah.
The authorities have classified the incident as a terrorist attack.