A fundraiser set up for the Bondi Beach hero Ahmed al Ahmed has raised more than $1.2 million for him in less than 24 hours.
Footage widely shared on social media shows the incredible moment Ahmed al-Ahmed, 43, ran up to one of the gunmen and tackled him to the ground.
He then grapples his weapon off him, before aiming it at the gunman and forcing him to retreat.
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Sajid Akram, 50, and his son Naveed, 24, killed 15 people at Bondi Beach in Sydney after they opened fire on Jewish people attending a Hanukkah event.
Al-Ahmed has received universal praise for his remarkable actions, including from Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese and US president Donald Trump.
Now, a GoFundMe has raised more than $1,200,000 for the fruit shop owner in less than 24 hours.
The fundraiser, titled ‘Support the Hero Who Disarmed a Bondi Attacker’, read: “This GoFundMe has been created to show our gratitude and support for someone who demonstrated incredible courage when it mattered most.
“No one expects to be a hero, but when the moment came, he was. Any contribution, big or small, is a powerful way to say thank you.”
Car Hub Australia and Zachery Dereniowski, who set up the fundraiser, donated $50,000 to the cause.
At the time of writing, the total stands at $1,258,055.
Speaking about their son’s incredible bravery, al-Ahmed’s parents said he had been shot “four or five times” in the shoulder and was recovering in hospital from surgery.
Mohamed Fateh Al Ahmed and Malakeh Hasan Al Ahmed told ABC he had been having a coffee with a friend when he heard gunshots.
Mr Al-Ahmed said his son “wasn’t thinking about the background of the people he’s saving, the people dying in the street” when he carried out his act of heroism.
Mr Ahmed said: “He doesn’t discriminate between one nationality and another. Especially here in Australia, there’s no difference between one citizen and another.”
His cousin Mustafa al-Asaad, told the Al Araby television network that al-Ahmed intervened as a “humanitarian act”, the Guardian reports.
“When he saw people dying and their families being shot, he couldn’t bear to see people dying,” he said.
“It was a humanitarian act, more than anything else. It was a matter of conscience. He’s very proud that he saved even one life.
“When he saw this scene, people dying of gunfire, he told me, ‘I couldn’t bear this. God gave me strength. I believe I’m going to stop this person killing people’.”