NEED TO KNOW
- Two first responders bonded while helping victims during the Bondi attack.
- Their shared experience quickly turned into a romantic relationship.
- They are now engaged and planning a wedding.
In a story of unexpected love emerging from unimaginable tragedy, two first responders to the Bondi terrorist attack are now engaged and planning their wedding.
James McIntosh and Alexandra ‘Lexi’ Edmondson, who had briefly met before the December 14 massacre, were brought together in horrific circumstances.
James, a content creator, and physiotherapist Lexi had crossed paths during a surf lifesaving course at Bondi Surf Club. Despite living near each other, a romantic connection never existed.
Opening up about their love story to The Australian, Lexi, 35, said: “We were never interested in each other in that way; he thought I was really young, I thought maybe he was married.”
James, 46, found Lexi to be “really sweet” but, due to his confusion over her age, never considered her as a potential partner.
Everything changed on the evening of Sunday, December 14, when two gunmen attacked the Jewish community’s Hanukkah by the Sea celebration at Bondi Beach.
Amid the chaos, James and Lexi drew on their lifesaving training to help the wounded
“I knew I had to run in, because I knew what to do,” James recalled.
“And there’s a part of you that wants to do it – as horrible as it is – it’s like, ‘now is my time.’”
James, who had once assisted a shark attack victim on Bondi Beach, stayed calm under pressure. Lexi used her physiotherapy skills to triage patients and organise supplies.
Together, they cared for a critically injured man shot in the leg before deciding to drive him to hospital themselves.
That drive became a turning point. Both were deeply affected by what they had witnessed, but the shared experience made them see each other differently.
“It’s a pretty big thing to have intense feelings and to be in such a vulnerable state we were both in,” Lexi said.
By the following Tuesday, their friendship had blossomed into romance, beginning with a clumsy first kiss.
Their whirlwind romance deepened quickly. Then in February, while on holiday in Mexico, James proposed.
“Our consistent theme the whole time was, ‘let’s not jump into anything too soon.’ It’s been the complete opposite,” Lexi says, breaking into laughter.
“I’ve never felt more connected to anyone than I am with Lexi,” he said.
“During that proposal, I said I had never been more sure of anything in my life … It was a new space for me to be totally confident and certain that this is the person I want to spend the rest of my life with.”
Now living together and planning their wedding in November, the couple’s story has captured widespread attention, offering joy in the wake of darkness.
At a Shabbat ceremony at Bondi Junction’s Central Synagogue, Rabbi Levi Wolff was so moved by their story, he offered to marry them there – the first non-Jewish couple to do so.
Rabbi Wolff said, “They are representative of a light that has emerged from darkness”.
The Bondi attack left 15 people dead and many wounded.
“It really signified to both of us that this isn’t just about us,” Lexi said. “It’s about unification and bringing so many people together.”
