‘You ran towards the bullets’: Parents reunite with hero mum who saved their daughter’s life

A heroic mother who rescued a three-year-old girl by shielding her with her body in the Bondi Beach terror attack has been reunited with the girl’s parents. 

Bondi locals Wayne and Vanessa lost their daughter Gigi in the midst of the chaos, but Jess, a mother-of-two, bravely risked her life and grabbed the young girl, and kept her safe.

As the horror unfolded on Sunday, Wayne and Vanessa quickly realised Gigi had been separated from them as they both tried to take shelter and protect their other two children.

Jess, who is five months pregnant, was looking for her son after also becoming separated from her family when she saw Gigi crying out for her parents.

On Monday, Wayne, Vanessa and Gigi reunited with Jess in an emotional moment that saw the two mothers break down in tears as they recounted the horrific attack. 

“I went to the Hanukkah celebration with my mum, mother-in-law, my two kids, aged three and 18-months, and my husband,” she told Sky News Australia.

As the mum-of-two struggled to hold back tears, Vanessa embraced her and said: “I’ve got you, you can do this.”

“I saw my husband with my 18-month-old but I couldn’t see my son, I didn’t know where he was so I was looking for my son for the first three, four shots,” Jess continued.

“I saw Gigi in an open area and she was crying for her mummy and her daddy, I ran to her and grabbed her.

“We stayed still, I laid on top of her and we spoke about how we were going to stay still and calm, and quiet.”

In footage from the shooting, Jess can be heard telling Gigi: “I got you. We are going to stay here and be nice and safe and no one is going to hurt us.”

In one heartbreaking moment as one of the gunmen can be seen firing into the crowd, Gigi asked Jess: “Can you hide?” To which Jess replied: “Yes, we can hide baby girl.”

Reflecting on the horrific attack, Jess said: “I didn’t know where my son was and I was very afraid but [protecting Gigi] I could do.

“There was a lot of shooting, we were in a pretty exposed area, a lady maybe a metre and a half away from us was fatally shot.”

After the shooting had stopped, Wayne frantically searched for his daughter and found her underneath Jess.

“I know she wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for [Jess],” Vanessa said as she broke down in tears.

“What three-year-old knows to duck and take cover?” 

“I’m just a mum and I did what mums do. I saw a little girl and she needed help and I tried to do what I could. I couldn’t help everyone,” Jess replied.

In emotional scenes, Vanessa and Wayne thanked Jess for saving their little girl’s life, but the pregnant mum insisted she wasn’t “special”.

“Everyone ran for their lives, you ran towards the bullets, to my baby girl,” Vanessa said. 

After the shooting, Jess luckily found her son, who was with his grandma in the playground, about 20 minutes after the attack began.

She praised the bravery of a group of men who formed a human barrier around the women and children in the playground before moving them into the nearby surf club and barricading them inside. 

At least 15 innocent victims were killed in the worst mass shooting in Australia since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.

Police have branded the shooting a terrorist incident.