A brother, an uncle, and now a national hero, the family of Faraz Tahir says he was much more than a security guard on the day he died.
His eldest brother and head of the family, Muzafar Ahmad Tahir, said he was a stranger to most, but gave his blood to protect the public.
Mr. Tahir was one of the six victims killed at Westfield Bondi Junction on April 13 in a mass stabbing rampage.
The 30-year-old refugee was on his first day shift at the complex when Queensland man Joel Cauchi began attacking people.
Mr. Tahir had fled persecution in Pakistan before arriving in Australia in 2022, which he intended to be his final home.
He was the only male victim to die in the Bondi Junction attack.
The lives of Jade Young, 47, Ashlee Good, 38, Dawn Singleton, 25, Pikria Darchia, 55, and Yixuan Cheng, 27, were also lost in the tragedy.
NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott ended 40-year-old Cauchi’s rampage when she shot him on level five of the complex as shoppers fled.
Instead of celebrating his 31st birthday on April 24, Mr. Tahir’s family spent the once joyous occasion flying in from overseas to see his body for the first time.
Older by three years, brother Mudasar Bashir said that “it was in his blood” for Mr. Tahir to protect and care for the people around him.
The guard’s actions were unsurprising to those who knew him, Mr. Bashir said on April 25, despite the shock of his untimely death.
“I think lots of people are alive because of him,” he said.
“We (the family) couldn’t believe it, even till now, but somehow we have to.
“For some days, it was very hard for us ... we were thinking that he might call us and say that he’s OK.”
Except they didn’t get a call, said Mr. Bashir, who still remembers speaking to his brother the night before his shift.
“I was on the call with him and he said that he had a job,” he said.
“I said OK, don’t worry, sleep. We'll talk tomorrow. And it was the last time [we spoke].”
Three of Mr. Tahir’s brothers, an uncle, and a nephew were at a Marsden Park mosque in Sydney’s northwest on April 25, preparing for his funeral there on April 26.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns have been invited to the service, where Mr. Minns intends to say a few words.
It will be the first time that a premier has been invited by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community to speak at such an event, given Mr. Tahir’s national impact.
The Bondi Junction shopping centre re-opened for trade on April 19 following a day of community reflection.
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