A prominent Australian businesswoman and influencer has been spending time with her Kiwi friend after he ran to her aid, pulling her from under a van to safety as gunfire rang out in Bondi. 

Pip Edwards, founder of popular activewear brand PE Nation, was with friend Jess Engels at Bondi Beach on December 14 when two gunmen opened fire into a crowd that had gathered for a Chanukah by the Sea event. 

The mass shooting left 15 people dead and dozens more injured, with the victims aged between 10 and 87 years old, as Sydney’s Jewish community celebrated the first day of Hanukkah. 

Edwards, 45, credits Chris Woods, a Sydney-based New Zealander who was rumoured to be romantically tied to the designer in 2023, and another bystander who distracted the gunmen, for helping her and Engels escape the terror. 

Woods allegedly broke through cordons to locate the pair and take them to safety, and Edwards expressed gratitude to him in an Instagram post following the massacre. 

Recalling the massacre on her social media, Edwards described the “incomprehensible” assault on innocent lives as “crazy, wild, and unnecessarily brutal” as she detailed how the gunmen surrounded the vehicle they were sheltering under. 

Floral tributes left by mourners at the Bondi Beach promenade in Sydney on December 17. Photo / AFP 

“The shots kept firing and we rolled from side to side under the van to hide behind the wheels, as the gunmen’s feet walked around us, trying not to be seen,” Edwards wrote. 

“We were under there for 15 minutes in complete panic, shock, almost frozen, couldn’t breathe because we didn’t want to be heard, and when the deafening gunshots finally stopped, our friend Chris broke through all the barriers to come find us, save us, and extract us from under the van.” 

Edwards had since struggled to reconcile the events that unfolded, saying the attack was something she’ll “never see nor unhear”. 

“I am so lucky to have my girlfriend Jess with me through this; she was protecting me all the way, and I am forever in debt for how heroic and calm she was, trying to keep me together,” she wrote. 

“In that moment, all we could do was hold tight onto each other, squeezing together so close, in hope.” 

Pip Edwards' New Zealand friend Chris Woods (right) pictured with her son Justice (centre) and fellow designer Mikey Nolan (left). Photo / @pipedwards 

Since then, Edwards and Woods have been seen spending more time together while Edwards’ son, Justice, returns home from university in California for the holidays. 

In one recent photo carousel, Woods can be seen smiling next to Justice and Double Rainbouu co-founder Mikey Nolan as they sunbathe in a grass field. 

“Finally closing the book on 2025,” Edwards captioned the post. 

Another selfie from late December shows the quartet travelling together in a car, with Edwards and Woods seated together in the front.