After 22 days in a coma, Geffen Biton, the most severely wounded victim of the Sydney terror attack and one of its unsung, courageous and selfless heroes, opened his eyes.

For his family, friends, and many who have followed his story from afar, it felt nothing short of a miracle.

Gefen, a 30-year-old Israeli living quietly in Australia and working as a garage-door installer, had come that evening to Chabad of Bondi’s public menorah-lighting event with his best friend after a long hiking trip. He insisted on staying until the first candle was lit, wanting to absorb the feeling of Chanukah.

When the shooting began, Gefen and his friend ran, but in the chaos, they were separated. Minutes later, Gefen managed to call his sister in Israel. He told her that he had been shot. Then the line went dead.

For hours, no one knew where he was.

Friends and relatives searched frantically, combing the area and going from hospital to hospital. Only later was Gefen found at St. Vincent’s Hospital, already in surgery, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. His injuries were catastrophic.

In the days that followed, questions wouldn’t let go. Gefen had been shot in the front of his body, not the back.

Gefen’s father, who flew in from Israel on the day of the attack, joined the effort to reconstruct what had happened. Using the Find My Phone app, the family determined that Gefen’s last recorded location was far nearer to the site of the shooting than the place where he had originally been sitting.

Then came the breakthrough.

Friends reviewing footage from the scene noticed a man in a red shirt running toward the gunman, alongside Ahmed al-Ahmed. Gefen’s friend recognized the clothing. His father confirmed it.

“Suddenly, we connected all the dots,” Tom Cohen, Gefen’s friend, said. “We understood what happened there. He ran to make contact with the terrorists.”

The weight of what had happened set in: Gefen had escaped to safety, then turned around and ran back, with mesirus nefesh, straight into the line of fire to try to save lives.

Gefen’s sister described what they came to understand only days later: “We understand what really happened [now]. He was probably already in a safe place and decided to go back and try to take the weapon. As soon as he arrives and approaches the terrorist father, the son shoots him from the bridge three times and hits him in the lower abdomen.”

When Ahmed al-Ahmed charged the attacker, Gefen was beside him. Unarmed, he ran straight into danger. He was shot, fell, and was shot again. According to witnesses, he was hit three times by the second terrorist while standing next to Ahmed.

“It was a moment of extreme courage,” one acquaintance said. “He thought only about the people around him.”

The family later released a statement: “Gefen put his own life at risk with his selfless actions. Gefen – an unarmed Israeli civilian, living in peace in Australia – made a decision most of us couldn’t even think of. He ran into the face of danger like only a hero does, guided by the values on which he was educated and raised. A true hero that deserves recognition.”

Gefen’s condition was dire. He suffered devastating injuries to his intestines, pelvis, and hip. He was sedated, ventilated, and classified as the most critically wounded victim of the attack. Over the following weeks, he underwent more than ten complex surgeries to save his life.

His brother, Eshkol, flew to Australia to be at his side, joining their father, who had arrived on the day of the attack.

“We only understood what he did after watching the videos,” Eshkol said. “He was already in a safe place, and without hesitation chose to put the lives of others before his own. It didn’t surprise us. That’s who he is. Gefen always puts others before himself.”

Doctors in Australia, in coordination with medical teams from Israel, began exploring the possibility of transferring Gefen to Israel by air ambulance, once his condition would allow.

And then, on Monday morning, 16 Teves, after 22 days that felt like an eternity, in what can only be described as a miracle, Gefen woke up.

He remains seriously injured and faces a long road ahead, but he is alive and conscious.

“Gefen has been fighting for two weeks now,” his brother Eshkol said. “We will remain here with him for as long as needed. We thank from the bottom of our hearts everyone who surrounds us, supports us, and prays for Gefen’s recovery in Israel and around the world.”

Please continue to daven for the speedy recovery of Gefen Dovid ben Esther and all the victims of the Sydney attack.