A Corrimal grandmother was one of the panicked shoppers that bunkered down for hours at Westfield Bondi Junction while an armed man went on a stabbing rampage, killing six people and injuring at least a dozen more.
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Kelly, who did not want her surname identified, took public transport to the Bondi shopping centre on Saturday afternoon.
The 57-year-old doesn't frequent the centre, and just happened to be there to look for a specific makeup box for her granddaughter's birthday, until hell broke loose.
"It was very, very traumatising ... It was just an absolute nightmare. I thought I was going to die," she said through tears on Sunday, the horrific visuals still raw in her mind.
"People just started screaming and running, it was a stampede of people pushing everyone over.
"Bondi Junction was the closest I could get that item, I just kept playing over in my head, 'Why, why did I go there?'"
Queensland man Joel Cauchi, 40, has been identified by police as the knife-wielding man who killed six people, before a lone female police officer shot him dead, after he lunged at her,
The victims included 38-year-old woman Ash Good, the mother of a nine-month-old baby girl who was also wounded in the attack.
A second victim who died has been identified as Dawn Singleton, the 25-year-old daughter of ad mogul John Singleton and lawyer Julie Martin.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park confirmed on Sunday morning that 12 people remain in hospital and confirmed the Ms Good's daughter was in intensive care after undergoing surgery.
The baby is in a serious, but stable condition.
"Last night I visited the children's hospital at Randwick and spoke with clinicians and nurses who were caring for the 9-month-old baby," he said.
"We have around about 12 people in hospital, some of them varying from critical to more stable."
After seeing a stampede of people rushing through the shopping centre, Kelly said the next thing she heard was someone screaming, "He's got a gun".
"I was petrified ... I thought, 'This is it, this is the end of my life'," she said, not wanting to go into detail about what she saw of the attack.
"I can't get that really bad stuff out of my head, it just keeps playing over and over.
"Why did he do this?"
She said staff were locking the doors of shops and that a man led her into an Anytime Fitness gym, where she sat with police officers for hours until she was picked up by her son.
Kelly praised all frontline workers who responded, and heralded NSW Police Inspector, Amy Scott, who shot Cauchi, as a hero.
"So many would have been killed if she didn't step in and do what she did. She's an absolute hero in my eyes," Kelly said.
Mr Park praised the courage and bravery of all frontline workers, who entered the "chaotic scenes of absolute terror and suffering" in the shopping centre to help.
"This morning our country has woken up with probably more questions than answers," he said.
"One thing they can be assured of is that people are alive today thanks to the courage, skill and dedication of our police, paramedics, and frontline workers.
"While people were bunkering down and getting shelter away from that area, we had paramedics and police going into that shopping centre to help.
"That is something as a community we are all deeply, deeply proud of."
He said additional mental health support will be available for witnesses and frontline paramedics.
Addressing the media on Sunday, NSW Police assistant commissioner Anthony Cooke urged witnesses to come forward.
He maintained the attacks were not an act of terrorism.
"At this stage it would appear that this is related to the mental health of the individual," Cmr Cooke said.
If you or anyone you know needs help, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.
Grace Crivellaro
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
