West Lothian woman caught up in Bondi Beach shootings 'determined not to let evil win' after trauma

Miya Lind, 26, was heading to a popular sunset spot on Bondi Beach to celebrate the first day of summer in Australia when she and friends heard ‘popping sounds’.

They had not long crossed the bridge that they now know a gunman stood on as he took the lives of those celebrating Hanukkah on the Sydney beach, and were discussing the beauty spot and how grateful to be there when they heard the first shots.

“At the time, I remember seeing everyone enjoying themselves, a lot of families, a lot of young kids. There was a rock climbing wall with a kid up it. As we had that conversation, and had not long got off the bridge, was when we started to hear pops,” said Miya, from Kirknewton.

“My friend Lisa is from France and unfortunately she had been there when there was the Paris attacks and instantly she said ‘Miya, run.’”

Miya Lind has lived in Australia since May and was visiting the beach with friends. | Supplied

Describing herself as “blissfully unaware” of what might be happening, Miya said that she had initially thought that the popping sounds were fireworks from the celebrations, but when the shots continued - she realised that she was in danger.

She said: “It became absolute chaos. There were people running around me and I realised that I had to try and move out the way and run as far as possible. I was also just trying not to lose sight of my friends.

“There were people abandoning buggies. There were people dropping stuff everywhere. We were dressed for the beach, so I had my bag over my shoulder, really flimsy shoes on and I just felt like I was running in quicksand and couldn't get away fast enough.

“At this point, I was just in a complete state of shock and panic and I almost felt like I could imagine a shot hitting me in the back and I did not have a moment to even look back or look around. It was just get yourself out of there.”

Miya said that she had an out of body experience as she ran to safety, believing these could be her last moments.

She explained: “I just remember thinking to myself, if this is my last moment I just need to not leave this earth in fear and just find peace. And almost in my head, for some reason, I thought, I just need to send my love to my family and my partner. I just had this moment to myself whilst I was running, and then it just kind of clicked back into my body. And I was just in complete panic.”

Miya Lind, 26, had crossed the bridge at Bondi Beach that minutes later a gunman would kill from. | Miya Lind

As a type-1 diabetic Miya had also risked a hypo by running. Upon going to check her sugar levels, she realised she’d lost her phone.

Miya took the risky decision to go back and find her phone, despite warnings from others - a decision she said was ‘a bit silly in retrospect’. But she said she wanted to warn away friends and to let her family know that she loved them.

Miya said she was in a complete state of disarray, with chaos all around her as families hoped they had escaped the gunmen

She said: “At one point we were hiding behind an ice cream truck and there were just far too many people and it just felt so unsafe. We were still hearing gunshots. This went on for a good 10 minutes. And we didn't know if we had run away from chaos or if we were running into the same level of chaos. We didn't know whether we were safe, and whether, how many people there were, if there were people waiting at the other end, or how organised this was, just hyper alert, looking at everyone, just not feeling safe.”

Miya and her friends had to make their way back towards the beach after the attack and she described the scene as “horrifying” and "unimaginable” as medics attended to the injured. After helping an elderly woman home, they were finally picked up and taken home where they all sat in shock.

Miya has now said that in the week since the attack, which saw the gunmen kill 15 people, she is still suffering from the after effects - including waking up in the middle of the night with gunshots ringing in her head.

“I was waking up in a complete panic. I remember a couple of times I was propelling my body up and hearing the gunshots again in my head,” she said, adding: ““There are moments I feel almost guilty for being here but also really grateful.”

She described the week since the attack as ‘really tough’ and said that her heart goes out to those who have lost loved ones in the attacks.

Two days after the attack, Miya returned to the scene of the attack at Bondi Beach to pay her respects and lay flowers for those who had died. She said that, while she was terrified, she was desperate to show support for a place she described as ‘one of the most beautiful, safest places ever’.

“It was really beautiful what we shared together as a community, just being with each other. And when we were on the streets as well, just overlooking where we had run and just retracing our steps in our head.

“We were approached by two mental health nurses who stopped and asked us if we were okay, which was really nice. They took our names and they had given us cards to get in contact with. They also had then followed up by a call and asked how we were and guided us to the right kind of help, which I'm really, really grateful for.

“I think that the most important thing is to not let it instil fear in us and to just actually push back and show that we can create community and peace and not let that evil side win.”

Among those killed in the attack were a 10-year-old girl and an 87-year-old holocaust survivor. Police in Sydney have named father and son, Sajid Akram, 50, and Naveed Akram, 24, as the alleged gunmen who opened fire on the crowd.

Sajid was killed at the scene by police, while Naveed was wounded.