Alexandra Edmondson and James McIntosh will be married in a park near Bondi Beach on November 20, 2026. Their love story began less than a year earlier, on December 14, 2025, in the middle of a terror attack that took the lives of 15 people.
Edmondson and McIntosh had just completed an eight-week course on water safety and resuscitation techniques. They had become friends during the program and planned to attend the Bondi Surf Club Christmas party together that fateful Sunday.
As the friends walked toward the beachfront, they heard what sounded like gunshots. McIntosh immediately covered Edmondson and hid with her as he tried to get his bearings and understand what was happening.
“We were hiding in this spot, and then it became apparent the gunshots were moving,” Edmondson recalled in an interview with The Jerusalem Post. “Jimmy decided he needed to get his visual on the actual shooters, as we were not sure if they were coming toward us.”
McIntosh moved to get a better view of the shooter, while Edmondson headed toward the surf club as shots were still being fired. Eventually, the shooting stopped, and both, trained in first aid, headed out to help the injured.
At first, each was assisting someone else. Then they came together to help a man who had been shot in the leg. Edmondson recalled that he was in tremendous pain, but because his life was not in immediate danger, it would be a while before he could get to the hospital. They worked together to move him to the paramedics, where he could be triaged. After helping others, Edmondson and McIntosh ultimately drove him to the hospital themselves.
It was one of the most traumatic days in recent Australian history, including for Edmondson and McIntosh. They spent it together, and when it was finally over and the man they had helped was safely at the hospital, they tried to return to collect Edmondson’s belongings from the surf club.
Everything was blocked off, so she had to find another way to get into her house. Her wallet and phone remained at the scene, and it would be days before she could retrieve them. McIntosh stayed with her, helped make sure she connected with people who might be worried about her whereabouts and made sure she got home safely.
“We were always just friends,” Edmondson told the Post.
But in the days following the attack, the two found themselves together at a number of events, and slowly they began to realize there might be something more between them. One afternoon, they were at the grocery store together, and the tension was palpable. They both wanted to connect, but it did not seem like the right time or place in the aftermath of the Bondi attack. After a few flirtatious exchanges, however, McIntosh finally asked to kiss Edmondson. The rest is history.
Looking back, Edmondson said perhaps she should have known. Here was a man whose first instinct when the Bondi attack began was to grab her, hide her and protect her. He was someone who stayed calm under pressure and put his own safety at risk to help others.
“I realized how deep his love and care for his community really was,” Edmondson said. “In the days after Bondi, everyone was so raw and really just wore your heart on your sleeve.”
But their relationship with each other was not the only connection that began to form. In the days after the attack, Edmondson and McIntosh also grew closer to the Jewish community.
Edmondson told the Post that she had not realized how frightening it could be to live as a Jew in Australia, and she wanted to stand with the Jewish people.
“No one deserves to be scared, and I had no idea because I had been so ignorant about what was going on,” Edmondson said.
In the days that followed the Bondi attack, she and McIntosh spent time at the park and attended a ceremony for first responders at the local Central Synagogue. Rabbi Levi Wolff shared the couple’s story, and Edmondson said the community was extraordinarily supportive and enthusiastic.
The couple eventually asked Wolff to marry them. Their wedding will be the first non-Jewish wedding he has officiated at Bondi Beach.
“One of the saddest results of Bondi was that no one felt safe at the beach anymore,” Edmondson said. “So we thought one thing that would be impactful would be bringing back to that space some beauty.”
They chose a small grassy area near the beach for the ceremony, where they will tie the knot.
“I want the Jewish people to know I fully support them,” Edmondson said, adding that she deeply respects the Jewish values she has learned about over the past year and wants to begin her marriage rooted in that value system.
The Jerusalem Post’s first-ever Australia Summit will take place in Sydney on November 19, the day before the couple’s wedding. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet Edmondson and McIntosh and hear their story firsthand. The summit will be preceded by an invitation-only gala at Central Synagogue.
To learn more about the Australia Summit or becoming a conference partner, visit the conference website at www.jpost.com/australia2026 or contact conferencep@jpost.com.