Overview
- Chaya Dadon, 14, left cover to protect two small children after hearing their mother’s plea during the Chanukah by the Sea event and was shot in the leg, according to family and community accounts.
- She told 7 News Australia she held the children close, kept them calm, and recited the Shema with them until help arrived.
- A surf lifesaver moved her on a rescue board to a police vehicle for transport to the hospital, where she underwent surgery and is now recovering on crutches.
- Her parents, local Chabad organizers of the beach celebration, and her grandfather publicly praised her actions as instinctive and life‑saving.
- Officials say two gunmen, a father and son, opened fire on the crowd, killing multiple people, and the investigation continues into the attack’s motivations and circumstances.