The moment Bondi’s horrific reality set in for the doctor on the scene

2 months ago 5

“My role was very minor. I stayed on the lawn and did what I could, as did everybody there.”

Moments earlier, the cardiologist had told his friends how lucky they all were to live in such a beautiful place. He and his wife had been enjoying a few drinks after taking part in the club’s weekly People’s Biathlon on the beach before the shooting started.

Like many on Bondi Beach that day, he had initially mistaken the popping sounds for firecrackers. Then people started running up the hill towards them from the direction of the Chanukah by the Sea event.

Laura Walkerden prays at one of the memorial sites at Bondi Beach near the crime scene of last night’s mass shooting incident that has left 16 dead and dozens hospitalised.

Otton, his wife and other passers-by hid in the back kitchen of Sean’s Panaroma restaurant on Campbell Parade.

“The maitre d’ was amazing. She was calm and capable, encouraging everyone inside, locking the doors and pulling down the blinds.”

When the popping stopped, Otton re-emerged, still harbouring the unrealistic hope that they had just been firecrackers.

“The idea that there could have been a mass shooting at Bondi was so foreign and far-fetched that I didn’t comprehend, foolishly, that it was a possibility,” he said.

“The whole thing had a sense of unreality. Even if you think, cerebrally, that this could be a shooting, there’s still part of you that tells you it’s not real, and that couldn’t happen at Bondi. It takes a moment for that unreality to crack and realise this is real.

“Then someone ran up the hill saying: ‘Is there anyone medical?’

“We were really fortunate that there were [emergency department] doctors and there were surgeons. There was an anaesthetist who put in cannulas and helped put in drips.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of people who were involved in helping, and they feel somewhat traumatised by that experience,” Otton said. “But the trauma that we feel is nothing compared to people who were actually shot or shot at or had their kids [shot], and my sympathy goes to the victims and their families.”