Student's visa plea after helping Bondi terror attack victims

An international student who aided victims during the Bondi Beach terror attack is seeking government assistance to remain in Australia. Abdullah Ashraf, a Pakistani law student, found his student visa had expired while he was on compassionate leave from the University of New South Wales.

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It was in the back of my head that, if there's a bullet out there [with] my name on it, it would find me … but if I could help someone else, if I could save a life, I think that's a good bargain.

Ashraf described how instinct took over during the attack on December 14, where he helped an injured police officer and then attended to a young mother and her children. He ensured the children were safely behind a car before providing first aid to their mother, applying pressure to her wounds and talking to her. "I think that's a good bargain," he said, referring to the possibility of saving a life.

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The kids were standing there; I made sure that they were behind the car, so even if there were bullets flying around, at least they're safe.

He later held the hand of a dying man, Dan Elkayam, as his pulse weakened. "I did look in his eyes, but I couldn't [see] his wound or where it was, and he just passed away," Ashraf recounted. He expressed happiness that the mother he aided survived, stating, "the two kids won't grow up without a mother."

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I attended to the mother and made sure she was conscious. I started putting pressure on her wounds and kept talking to her, trying to tell her she was going to be okay.

The trauma from the events significantly affected Ashraf's studies. His doctor recommended compassionate leave, but during this period, his visa lapsed. He has applied for a new visa but faces uncertainty. "It is very uncertain and causes a lot of anxiety sometimes not knowing how it's going to turn out," he said. "If my visa gets rejected, that puts me in a very difficult situation."

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I'm sure she has a long road ahead in terms of recovering mentally, and the trauma, but the two kids won't grow up without a mother.