‘Beautiful human’: Ash Good, 38, dies after desperately trying to protect her baby

Sky News reporter Laura Jayes struggled to hold back tears as she reported on the death, with the “beautiful” mother becoming the sixth person to die as a result of the stabbing rampage on Saturday evening.

“I didn’t know the others but I knew one,” Jayes said on-air. “I can tell you that it was a mother, a mother in the prime of her life, a new mother with a nine-month-old baby. She’s a beautiful woman.

”Her baby went into surgery and her mum didn’t make it. That is really hard news to take. She was so smart, so beautiful and it was all ripped away in seconds.”

The woman has since been identified as 38-year-old Ash Good.

According to witnesses, Ms Good tried to save her daughter after they were both attacked, handing her baby to two strangers as she fought for life.

The Sydney mum was rushed to St Vincent’s hospital in a critical condition, but died soon after arriving.

Her baby daughter remains in a serious condition at the Sydney Children’s Hospital, in the care of medical staff and her dad, who rushed there after the attacks.

Just hours before the senseless attacks, she posted heartbreaking images of her happy nine month old baby girl on social media, to a soundtrack of My Girl.

The Sydney mum was shopping in the centre on Saturday afternoon when she and her daughter were attacked.

A friend of Ms Good told news.com.au on Saturday night that she was simply a “beautiful human” and the “world’s best mum”.

Her daughter was rushed to a separate hospital and was reportedly in a critical condition on Saturday night and underwent surgery.

Witnesses said her first instinct was to protect her baby daughter.

“The mum came over with the baby and threw it at me, and I was just holding the baby,” one of a pair of brothers told 9News.

“I just helped out, just holding the baby and trying to compress the baby, and same with the mother, trying to compress the blood from stopping and calling the ambulance and police.

“We just kept yelling out to get some clothes to help us compress and stop the baby bleeding,” he said.

In October, the Sydney mum said she was “overwhelmed” with the “pure joy” of being a mother.

“Feeling so proud, then so overwhelmed,’’ she wrote on Instagram.

“Pure joy and extraordinary exhaustion blended with emotions you’ve never felt before.

“It’s a lot. But what I do know is that it really is the most outstandingly beautiful gift one can ever receive.

“Sitting here feeling so deeply thankful, and still pinching myself she’s ours. I love her so much.”

Earlier, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the death toll at Bondi Westfield shopping centre in Sydney as “beyond understanding” but said it was too early to speculate on any motive.

The horror unfolded at 3.20pm on Saturday afternoon in Sydney’s Bondi Junction when a man in an NRL jersey began stabbing shoppers at random, with five women and one man now confirmed dead.

The killer was later identified as Queensland man Joel Cauchi.

Multiple people were stabbed during the horror as panicked families ran for their lives, with multiple people still in hospital. A police officer ended the knifeman’s reign of terror as she bravely took him on alone and shot him dead with a bullet to the chest.

The senior female officer was nearby at the time and bravely decided to take him on alone, stalking him through the mall before gunning him down.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the dead attacker was “known to police” but that they did not believe it was terror related.

Speaking in Canberra shortly after 7pm, the Prime Minister said he had been briefed by the Australian Federal Police and the domestic spy agency ASIO.

“It would appear that this person has acted alone,’’ the Prime Minister said.

“The motives are not known yet. And speculation on that would not be helpful at this time. But we have been clear and transparent, and I know that the NSW Police as well as the AFP has made information available, as a priority, because we understand that the Australian public will be very shocked by this event.”

“For all of us tonight, the devastating scenes at Bondi Junction are beyond words or understanding. Australians will be shocked this evening. This was a horrific act of violence, indiscriminately targeted at innocent people going about an ordinary Saturday doing their shopping,” the Prime Minister said.

Mr Albanese said that his “heart goes out” to the families affected. He also paid tribute to the bravery of the police officer who shot dead the attacker.

“She entered the proceedings that were taking place, obviously very dangerous, by herself, she is certainly a hero,’’ the Prime Minister said.

“There is no doubt that she saved lives through her actions.

“And some of the footage is quite extraordinary. Staff, for whom this should have been a normal shift, shoppers peacefully going about their lives and yet for these Australians, their first instinct in the face of danger was to help someone else.”

“That is what we hold on to tonight as Australians. That’s confirmation of who we are. Brave, strong, together.”