Like most Australians, Moishe Gordon watched the horrific footage of the Bondi terror attack in Sydney. When he realized the man filmed fighting the terrorists with a brick, before being critically injured and gunned down, was his friend, Reuven Morrison HY”D, a member of the Chabad community in Australia, the shock was immense.

But it did not feel out of character with the person he knew.

“I saw him as a man of action,” Gordon told The Jewish Independent. “He saw a need for the Russian community in Sydney, and he never just said, I’ll let someone else do the hard yakka. He was the one who went to the council. He got the permits. He got the architect. He got a new synagogue for the Russian community in Sydney. So, when he saw his community in Sydney was threatened, why … wouldn’t he take direct action? That was in his DNA.”

Publicized street camera footage from the moment of the attack shows that Reuven did not run from the shooters—he ran toward them to save lives. In the video, Reuven is seen approaching, carrying a stone in his hand, to distract and confront one of the terrorists. He managed to delay them for a few moments as the crowd escaped.

In an interview with CBS, Morrison’s daughter, Shaina Gutnick, highlighted this, saying that her father “put himself in danger to protect others.”

Originally from the former Soviet Union, Reuven discovered his Jewish identity in Sydney after arriving as a teenager in the 1970s. He later settled in Melbourne with his wife, Leah, to provide educational opportunities for their daughter, Shaina, while remaining closely connected to Sydney through business and communal involvement.

In the days after Reuven’s death, Gordon learned that his friend’s body was to be taken from Sydney to Melbourne for burial, where Reuven’s wife, daughter, and grandchildren lived. The drive would take roughly 15 hours.

“I was so upset for him, that he was stuck in the refrigerator in the coroner’s for three days. As Jews, we like to bury on the day of the petirah. When I saw that he was stuck in the coroner’s refrigerator, if I could make him comfortable, and save him the 15-hour drive home, I immediately thought: I am going to do it.”

Gordon, who had been flying planes as a hobby for more than 30 years and volunteering with Angel Flight for over a decade, had never transported a body before. Determined to make the journey easier, he contacted the engineers at his Melbourne hangar and asked them to adjust his private plane, removing several seats to create the necessary space.

“I let my engineers know that I wanted to use my plane to bring my friend back from Sydney and when the engineers heard the reason for this unexpected flight, without me asking, and without my knowledge, they put anchor points on the floor of my airplane, and bought brand new strappings, at no charge to me so we could transport the body with greater dignity.”

Gordon was stunned. “When I asked them why they had done that, they said, they had just wanted to. These Australians cared. They really wanted to see Reuven looked after.”

When Gordon landed at Bankstown Airport, something unexpected happened.

“I have never had an air marshal who marshalled me into a particular spot. I was a little surprised. Then, after I landed, the air marshal said, ‘We have been waiting for you for over 3 hours; we arranged a private hangar, so you can transport your friend with dignity and privacy.’ I couldn’t believe it,” Gordon says, his voice breaking.

The Morrison family asked for one final request: a flyover of Bondi, where the attack had taken place. Normally, this would not have been possible. Sydney’s airspace is tightly controlled, and the wind that day made a circuit unsafe.

“The day Reuven was released from the coroner, the wind was coming in the worst direction for me to do a circuit over Bondi,” Gordon says, assuming it could not be done.

“I said to the air traffic controller in Sydney who called me, I appreciate your effort. I tried my best, but it wasn’t possible. But then he said to me: Moishe, we are going to make it happen. We are going to stop the international flights coming into Sydney airport, because we want you to do a circuit for your friend.”

After air traffic was stopped, Gordon flew two slow circuits over Bondi with Reuven on board.

When he landed in Melbourne, the Chevra Kadisha was waiting and took Reuven directly to be prepared for burial.

“The whole process was blessed and full of serendipity. Everything fell into place. What had to be done, it was through the kindness of so many people, the Chevra Kadisha, the non-Jews in my airport and air traffic control,” Gordon says.

For him, the flight was bittersweet. “This was the most bitter flight I ever did, flying a friend home in a body bag. But it was sweet because I knew I was doing my last gift for him as a friend, showing him my love as a friend. When you say bittersweet, that’s what it was.”