Kellie Sloane meets Bondi Beach survivors

Larisa Kleytman told a group of Bondi Beach terror attack survivors on Friday morning how she was alone in the immediate aftermath of the massacre when a stranger sat down beside her, took her hand and comforted her.

The woman helped her away from the scene and stayed with her until somebody came to collect her. Kleytman, whose husband Alex was murdered in the attack, did not realise at the time who the woman was.

She told the room at Central Synagogue she had later seen that woman on television and realised it was NSW Opposition Leader and member for Vaucluse Kellie Sloane. “This lady is here, and I want to thank you very, very much,” Kleytman said before the two embraced.

Friday morning’s gathering at which Sloane met with survivors was organised by Jewish House, whose head of Bondi crisis community and volunteers, Shoshana Eisner, opened the morning by asking those present to take a deep breath and recognise they were in a safe space.

“Every single person in this room is safe … nobody here has had the same experience, and everybody is at a different point in their journey of recovery,” Eisner said. “But there is something incredibly comforting about being in a room with people who just get it. You don’t have to explain that you’re fine one minute and suddenly fine, not fine the next.”