The parents of a three-year-old girl caught up in the Bondi Beach terror attack have shared the harrowing moment they found their daughter alive — protected by a brave stranger who used her own body to shield the child from gunfire.

Wayne and Vanessa said their family was at the park when shots rang out, forcing them to scatter in panic. Wayne took cover under a nearby table with their young daughter Capri, while Vanessa was separated with their other children.

The true nightmare began when Vanessa called Wayne and asked whether he had their three-year-old daughter, Gigi, with him. When he said no, “absolute panic” set in.

Vanessa said she had been watching Gigi dancing on the grass moments earlier — and then she was suddenly gone.

“I handed Capri to Vanessa and said, ‘I’m going to look for Gigi,’” Wayne told Sky News.
“I ran through the park — there was blood and bodies everywhere. Gigi was wearing a pink skirt, and then I saw a woman lying on top of her.”

The woman looked up and said: ‘I have your daughter. I’ve been protecting her.’

“I told her she had saved my daughter’s life,” Wayne said.
“I told her I would be indebted to her for the rest of my life.”

The woman, later identified as Jess, had been shot while shielding Gigi with her body. Another woman was lying lifeless nearby.

Wayne said he spoke to Jess about ten minutes later before she was taken to hospital, where she assured him she would be okay.

Meanwhile, Vanessa — clutching the couple’s two other children — said a police officer who had also been shot in the head grabbed her and forced her to get down.

“There was blood everywhere. Bullets were flying all around me,” she said.
“I don’t know how I wasn’t hit — it was an absolute miracle.”

The couple said they felt like “sitting ducks” as they lay in cover for what felt like hours, waiting for the shooting to end.

“It was the most appalling experience,” Wayne said.
“That something like this can happen in Australia — we were just lying there as shots rang out.”

“I feel awful that I couldn’t do more, but I had two little children and I just had to get them out of there.”

The family later exchanged contact details with Jess, who was taken to hospital for treatment.