“I cried out ‘God help me, God help me!’ And He gave us the strength”: Singaporean family at Bondi Beach share their divine escape

“We were running barefoot in the sand, and it felt very slow. We climbed up the hill, cutting across the grass with no shoes on.”

“I kept thinking a bullet was going to fly past,” Dr Edward Wong, 49, told Salt&Light, relating his family’s experience on Bondi Beach on Sunday, December 14, when a shooting occurred at Arthur Park next to the beach, killing at least 16 people and injuring dozens.

The family of six – Edward, his wife Karin and their four children – had been in Sydney since December 6 to celebrate the end of PSLE for their triplet daughters, who are 12. Their youngest, a boy, is 5.

They had decided to spend their last day in Sydney at Bondi Beach, as the previous days had been cloudy but the weather on Sunday was sunny.

“When we got there, it was so peaceful,” recalled Karin Lee, 44. “It was a very idyllic day, there were nice waves out at sea. So we just let the kids play in the water and make sandcastles. At 6.45pm we were about to pack up and go for dinner. I decided to go to the toilet, so I headed up the ramp.”

December 14 was the last day of the Wongs’ vacation before they flew back to Singapore on the 15th.

Had Karin gone just a minute earlier, she would have been standing on Campbell Parade when the shots began. Campbell Parade was where two assailants bearing guns started their attack.

She continued: “I was stunned when I heard the loud bangs. I thought maybe it was fireworks but the sky was still bright. Then a police siren rang out and suddenly everyone just turned and started running. I ran to find my family.

“Thank God, I had some of my children’s bags with me, but we had left the bulk of our things on the beach: Our stroller, shopping, shoes, water bottles.” She had the family’s mobile phones and wallets with her.

Edward, who was at the water’s edge with the children, also was not sure what the sounds were. “Bang! Bang! Bang! It was really loud. It was when the siren went off that I ran into the water and grabbed the children.

“I was worried because Karin had left to use the toilet. But praise God! I turned around and she was right there! And we started running. Everybody was running. We were about 200 metres away from the shooting. When we heard shots on the left, we ran right towards the top of the cliff.”

In the chaos, they had a heart-stopping moment. Edward said: “As we were running, we lost one of our girls. In her fright, she must have just run. But we found her at halfway up the ramp at the cliff face, thank God!”

Halfway through, Karin had a bad cramp in her leg and had to slow down, as other beachgoers rushed past them.

“It was very traumatic,” Karin said. “I kept muttering under my breath ‘God help me, God help me!’ over and over again, because when things are so unpredictable you just have to call out to God. And God gave us strength.”

This video was taken when the whole family had reached safety near the police cordon.

They made their way up the hill to where the police cars were set up at the top of the road as a barrier for the area to block off Bondi Beach. “The police waved us to keep going,” said Edward. “We got to where there was a row of flats and we hid behind the brick wall at the flats.”

A voice from above

As they were hiding, they suddenly heard a voice call down to them from the second floor of the flats.

“Door’s open if you want to come in.” 

This video was taken from behind the brick wall. At the end, you can hear the voice of the flat-owner offering refuge.

An Australian couple living in the flat opened their home to the Wongs and another local who had fled the beach.

“When I heard that voice, I knew God was truly with us,” Edward told Salt&Light. “Here were us, these foreigners, with four young children, no shoes on, and it was getting dark.

“We were so grateful for this man and his wife who gave us a safe place to stay, because the news was telling everyone in the area to stay indoors.”

This video was taken from inside the couple’s home. The children watched the scene from the safety of the flat.

Their accidental hosts offered them water and food, and the family watched what was going on from the windows and followed the news reports on television.

They took the opportunity to contact their family back in Singapore to assure them of their safety. They also informed their cell group, Oikos, at Faith Methodist Church and asked for prayers.

Once in safety, Edward and Karin contacted their family and their cell group, OIkos (pictured) to ask for prayer support.

“We waited about two hours before realising that the beach was not going to be opened that night and we would not be able to go back and get our things before our flight the next morning,” said Karin.

“The man who took us in offered to drive us back to town, because many roads in the area were closed. These are really very kind people. (Karin declines to name or picture them out of respect for their privacy.)

“When we came out of their home, we saw there were people still hiding behind that same brick wall where we were, just waiting for it to be safe.”

Police cars and helicopters remained in the area more than two hours after the shooting.

Edward’s aunt, who lives in Sydney, went to Bondi Beach early the next morning to try and retrieve their belongings from the beach, which had been put in a pile with all the other beachgoers’ things when the beach was cleared by the police. “She managed to find some items: two pairs of shoes and a beach towel. The rest was gone,” said Edward.

Karin added: “We realised that material things are not so important. What was important was we were all okay and we were safe together.”

Steps ordered by the Lord

“I really thank God for His divine timing,” said Karin, who recounted how their escape from Bondi Beach was orchestrated by God.

That she had not yet reached Campbell Parade, the ground zero of the attacks, when shots rang out. That she was able to find Edward and the children when everyone was fleeing the beach. That they found their daughter after losing her for what must have felt like hours. And that they had gone to a hiding spot that only God could have prepared.

“Out of so many apartments on that road, we somehow chose to run to the spot right under that one and the kind couple opened their home to us. We sat and watched the news, hearing the news announce: ‘One confirmed dead’ with the death toll rising by the minute; at the same time we were in a sanctuary, safe,” she related.

“When the shots were fired and I grabbed the kids, it was very frightening but I knew God was with me,” Edward told Salt&Light.

“When we lost our daughter, I prayed ‘Lord, help me find her’, and we did, praise God! I knew God was with us.

“For me, getting beyond the police cordon would have been enough, but God did exceedingly abundantly more than that.”

Karin and Edward were reminded of Psalm 91, a psalm they had printed out and pasted in their home for years. It has been a word in season for them more than once. 

Up to the last day of their holiday in Sydney, the Wong family were enjoying a relaxing, well-earned break after their triplet daughters completed PSLE.

“Throughout our lives’ events, from having the children, to migrating countries from London to Singapore, to life’s daily ups and downs, our family has had to turn to God and trust Him. When we lived in London, there were the England riots in 2011, people were killed then too. We realise that there are a lot of things that could have happened but God has carried and protected us all this time.”

During this ordeal, they felt as if they were “protected in the shelter of His wings”, they said.

God’s favour surrounded them even up to the point they left for Singapore. “We had lost our child seat on the beach,” Karin recalled. “And in Sydney you can’t ride in a car without one if you have a young child. When we arrived in Sydney we had an Uber driver with a child seat, and during that night of the shooting Edward called him at the last minute to explained what had happened to us, and asked if he would be willing to help us with car arrangements the next morning. And he was so kind, he rang around to organise for his friend to pick us up and he lent his car seat for our trip.”

The family flew from Sydney yesterday afternoon (December 15), arriving back in Singapore at 6.35pm – 24 hours after their ordeal at Bondi Beach.

“I was very grateful to be back to arrive at Changi,” said Edward. “I’m very happy to be back.”

For Edward, who is a dentist at Raffles Medical, and Karin, a former lawyer who is now an assistant teacher at Barker Road Methodist Church Little Lights Preschool, this encounter reminds them of the goodness of God, and it has served to strengthen their family’s faith.

“As a family, we have always prayed together every night before bedtime. My husband and I have always encouraged our children to grow in Christ. Our daughters are currently at Methodist Girls’ School (Primary) and we are grateful to their school for cultivating their love for God. This trip, the children really saw the favour of God, and we thank God for delivering us and bringing us home safely,” Karin said.

The family is aware that things could have gone very differently. Through it all, when things were completely out of their control, “it helped me to trust that God is always in control. Even when you are frantic and don’t know what to do, God is always there,” said Edward.

The Wong family are deeply saddened by the 16 lives lost in the shooting. “While we have seen God’s protection through the chaos during the shooting, we are also aware and saddened that many will be grieving during the festive season. We are praying for the families of those who did not survive, and also a swift recovery for all those who were wounded,” they told Salt&Light.

“We have faith as Christians that God has a bigger plan for our lives than we can imagine, that He makes all things work for the good of those who love Him, and that while unpredictable events may happen that we do not always understand, He promises to be present there walking with us through the valley.”

The Yuletide season holds deeper meaning for the Wongs this year. “This Christmas, we feel immense gratitude to the Lord for saving us and carrying us through. The Bondi Beach shooting incident has humbled us and reminded us to cherish each other more and not take anything for granted, whether it is family, or safety or peace.

“We hope our testimony will encourage others that no matter what problems there are, we can rest in God and trust that His plans are good for us. He will carry us through no matter how difficult or scary situations can be.”

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