Ahmed Al-Ahmed, celebrated for bravely stopping a terrorist attack at Bondi Beach, is reportedly dealing with injuries that are much more severe than initially disclosed, according to his former immigration lawyer.

Captured on dramatic video, the 43-year-old father of two young daughters, aged six and seven, was seen confronting the terrorist Sajid Akram. Al-Ahmed courageously tackled Akram from behind, managing to take away the attacker’s firearm.

The struggle ended with the gunman falling to the ground as Al-Ahmed secured the rifle, pointing it towards the now unarmed assailant.

Akram retreated as Al-Ahmed placed the weapon against a tree, allowing another bystander to intervene by hurling an object at the shooter.

This intense scene unfolded under the watch of the second alleged gunman, Akram’s 24-year-old son, Naveed, who stood nearby on a footbridge, armed and observing the incident.

Naveed was rushed to hospital under police guard with critical injuries, while his father was shot and killed by police at the scene.

Mr Al-Ahmed, a Syrian-born tobacconist owner, has been widely praised for his heroism, but it came at a significant personal cost.

He was shot in the shoulder and arm while hiding behind a tree shortly after confronting the gunman and remains in care at St George Hospital.

Ahmed Al-Ahmed, the hero who tackled and confronted one of the Bondi Beach terrorists, is suffering from injuries ‘far more serious than have been reported,’ his former migration lawyer has revealed

Heart-stopping footage captured the moment Mr Al-Ahmed (pictured in a white shirt) wrestled a gun from the shooter before turning it against him, all in view of the second alleged shooter 

‘He’s having multiple surgeries, he’s got five gunshot wounds. It’s a serious injury – far more serious than has been reported,’ his former migration lawyer Sam Issa, who visited him on Monday, told The Australian.

‘At this stage, he says he has no feeling in his arm. I’m no medical doctor but he said to me that it seems like one of the bullets may have hit a nerve.’

Mr Issa said doctors had yet to remove a bullet from the back of Mr. Al-Ahmed’s shoulder as of Monday night, describing the injury as ‘weird.’

‘Given the fact that he was facing the shooter, how did he get a bullet in the back of his shoulder? It’s strange,’ Mr Issa said.

There are fears that he could lose his arm.

‘He said he’d do it again,’ Mr Issa said.

‘But the pain has started to take a toll on him. He’s not well at all. He’s riddled with bullets. Our hero is struggling at the moment.’

At least 16 people were killed in Sunday night’s mass shooting before Mr Al-Ahmed acted, including a ten-year-old girl, with dozens more left seriously injured.

Mr Al-Ahmed, who put his life on the line to wrestle a firearm from one of the two shooters at Bondi Beach on Sunday evening

The terrifying shooting unfolded as hundreds gathered to attend the Jewish Chanukah by the Sea event, marking the first day of Hanukkah. 

As the dust settles on what has been described as the country’s darkest day since the 1993 Port Arthur massacre, mourners have found hope in the Syrian-born man’s bravery.

Before he tackled the gunman, he had asked his cousin to pass on a message to his family, his cousin Jozay Alkanj said.

‘He said: “I’m going to die – please see my family and tell them that I went down to save people’s lives”,’ Alkanj told The Sydney Morning Herald. 

His other cousin, Mustafa al-Assad said that he had asked his cousin how he had acted as he did at Bondi. ‘God gave me courage,’ al-Ahmed replied. 

‘When he saw this scene, people dying of gunfire, he told me, “I couldn’t bear this. God gave me strength. I believe I’m going to stop this person killing people”,’ he said.

Mr Al-Ahmed, a Muslim man, arrived in Sydney more than a decade ago from Syria on a student visa. 

After his battle for citizenship was heard at the Federal Court, he was granted citizenship in 2022. 

Naveed Akram, 24, has been identified as one of the gunmen allegedly behind the Bondi Beach shooting

Naveed Akram (pictured) was shot by police and is in custody 

He has run the Cigara tobacconist and specialist convenience store in Sutherland, in Sydney’s southern suburbs, since 2021. 

Mr Al-Ahmed’s mother has said she couldn’t stop crying when she found out her son was the hero who had saved countless lives at Bondi Beach. 

‘He saw they were dying, and people were losing their lives, and when that guy [the shooter] ran out of ammo, he took it from him, but he was hit. We pray that God saves him.’ 

His father Muhammad Fateh al-Ahmed said the religion of those injured, Jewish worshippers celebrating Chanukkah, was irrelevant to his son, who is Muslim. 

‘When he did what he did, he wasn’t thinking about the background of the people he’s saving, the people dying in the street,’ he told reporters. ‘

He doesn’t discriminate between one nationality and another. Especially here in Australia, there’s no difference between one citizen and another.’ 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns said the heroism provided some hope in a time of darkness.

‘We have seen Australians today run towards danger in order to help others. These Australians are heroes and their bravery has saved lives,’ Albanese told reporters.

One woman is seen leaving the scene with her child in an emergency blanket  

Minns said Mr Al-Ahmed was a ‘genuine hero’ at a press conference late on Sunday, adding there was ‘no doubt’ he saved many lives.

‘I think it’s worth remembering that in all of this evil, in all of this sadness, there are still wonderful, brave Australians that are prepared to risk their lives to help a complete stranger,’ he said.

Mr Al-Ahmed even received praise for his actions from US President Donald Trump.

‘In Australia, as you’ve probably read, there’s been a very, very brave person who went and attacked frontally one of the shooters. He saved a lot of lives, a very brave person who is right now in the hospital, pretty seriously wounded. I have great respect for the man who did that.’  

A GoFundMe campaign for Mr Al-Ahmed has so far raised close to a $2million,  including $100,000 from US billionaire Bill Ackman.