A courageous police officer, celebrated for halting Joel Cauchi’s deadly stabbing spree at Westfield Bondi Junction, has exceeded the fundraising target set for her cancer treatment.
In 2024, NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott swiftly responded to the alarming incident on the fifth floor of the Sydney shopping center after receiving an alert about the threat.
Confronting the assailant, Scott shot Cauchi in the chest when he ignored commands to drop his weapon. She continued to administer CPR until paramedics arrived, but Cauchi could not be saved.
On Monday, NSW Police Legacy disclosed that Scott has been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive type of breast cancer.
A fundraising campaign organized for her has surpassed $376,000 in donations, dramatically surpassing the original $25,000 goal.
Donors expressed their gratitude in comments on the fundraiser, appreciating the officer’s heroism during the 2024 incident.
‘Your actions at Westfield directly helped to keep our family safe. We are forever grateful,’ one person wrote.
‘We are thinking of you and your family as you face this battle.’
Inspector Amy Scott (pictured) has been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive breast cancer
More than $376,000 was raised by Aussies to help fund treatment for Insp Scott (pictured with her wife and children)
Insp Scott (left) single-handedly took down knifeman Joel Cauchi (right) during the 2024 Westfield Bondi Junction attack
Another person wrote: ‘Best wishes for a quick recovery, Amy, you are a true hero.’
The Inspector Amy Scott Appeal was created by a third party on the NSW Police Legacy website.
‘Our beautiful friend and colleague, Inspector Amy Scott, has recently been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer,’ the description reads.
‘Beyond her dedicated service to the community, Amy is a devoted wife, a loving mother of two young boys, and has a family who depend on her and walk this journey beside her every day.
‘She is every bit the remarkable human you would think. She is fiercely independent and the first to champion others.
‘Whilst she is being well supported by her family, friends and colleagues, Amy has a long uphill battle ahead to beat this insidious disease.
‘Amy now needs the strength, compassion, and support of her community.
‘This is a powerful reminder that even our strongest people are human, and this fundraiser has been created to ease the financial burden for Amy and her family during this incredibly challenging time.’
Cauchi killed six people during the stabbing (pictured top left to bottom right: Ashlee Good, Faraz Tahir, Jade Young, Dawn Singleton, Pikria Darchia and Cheng Yixuan)
More than 6,000 people donated to the fundraiser in 24 hours (pictured, Insp Scott receiving the Commissioner’s Valour Award from former NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb)
Police Minister Yasmin Catley on Tuesday said ‘the generosity of our community is tremendous and a measure of the enormous regard in which Amy is held by the public of NSW’.
‘On behalf of the NSW Government, I cannot thank everyone who has donated enough,’ she told news.com.au.
‘So far, more than 6,000 people have joined the effort to support Amy and her family.’
NSW Premier Chris Minns has also said he was devastated by the news.
‘I spoke to Amy a couple of weeks ago. She’s a genuine, bona fide Australian hero. Someone that we owe a huge debt of gratitude to, not just because of her heroic actions in Bondi Junction of a couple of years ago, but also she’s been an inspiration to the exact same officers that attended the terrorism event on the 14th of December,’ he said.
‘She’s so important for New South Wales Police and our community. If anyone deserves a break, it’s Amy, and we just wish her the very best. She’s an absolute champion.’
Following her act of heroism, Insp Scott said that she was just one example of ‘ordinary people called to do an extraordinary thing’.
‘It was quite a traumatic day for everybody involved,’ Insp Scott told a graduating class of police officers.
The Inspector Amy Scott Appeal described her as a ‘devoted wife’ and ‘a loving mother of two young boys’ (pictured with her sons)
Insp Scott (pictured with her wife) was extremely humble following her brave actions
‘I wasn’t the only person there and that’s why I have stayed quiet and probably will continue to stay quiet because there are really important people that responded that day that have been impacted.’
Insp Scott said she was lucky to have the love and support of a wife, family and friends as well as the NSW Police Force community to get her through the tough memories of the day and ‘back on the tools’.
On the day of the stabbings, Insp Scott was performing routine checks near the shopping centre.
After bystanders directed her to the scene, the officer approached the 40-year-old Queensland man on level five of the complex as shoppers fled and others lay injured.
When Cauchi refused to put his knife down, Insp Scott fired one shot into his chest, sending him to the ground.
She then walked over and gave him CPR until paramedics arrived but Cauchi was unable to be revived.
Those killed included five women – Ashlee Good, 38, Dawn Singleton, 25, Pikria Darchia, 55, Jade Young, 47, and Yixuan Cheng, 27 along with security guard Faraz Tahir, 30.
Ms Good’s nine-month-old daughter was also hurt in the attack.
