God chose to save me says Manchester synagogue attack survivor
“What happened to me was a miracle,” said a man who survived a terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester in October.
Yoni Finlay is believed to have been shot by a police bullet while barricading the doors of Heaton Park Hebrew Synagogue in Crumpsall in an attempt to stop attacker Jihad Al-Shamie on October 2.
Worshipers Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby were killed when Al-Shamie, a Syrian-born British citizen, drove his car into the synagogue gate and then attacked them with a knife while wearing a fake suicide belt.
The 35-year-old attacker was shot and killed by armed police. Three other people who were seriously injured after the attack were treated in hospital.
Mr Finlay was asked the following question on the podcast: Ready to Talk to Emma Barnett how he processed the terrible events of that day.
In a clip played on BBC Radio 4 Today “It’s incredibly difficult. People have asked me how my faith is after what happened, and the only answer is that my faith is stronger than ever,” he said on the programme.
“And I think the only way I can get through this is through faith. I know that what happened to me was a miracle. I know that for whatever reason, God chose to save me that day, and that gives me responsibility.”
He added: “Because I was centimeters, millimeters, whatever I was, you know, if I had taken one step left or one step right… who knows, I wouldn’t be here now. So again, it’s about that.”
“But that’s where my faith comes in. For whatever reason, I was given more time.”
Mr Finlay also recalled the moment police officers arrived at the scene before opening fire. He said: “Then the police came and entered the courtyard.
“He came down the stairs quite aggressively, shouting ‘armed police’.
“And they had to open fire because of the bomb they thought he probably had, they had to stop him.
“So they shot him a few times, he fell to the ground, but he got back up.”
He added: “After being shot, he stood up again and moved towards them quite aggressively, which is when they shot him again. That’s when I felt the bullet enter me.”
Asked what it was like to be so close to the attacker, Mr Finlay said: “It’s a very shocking thing to be around someone who wanted to kill Jews. That was all he wanted to do and he was willing to die for it.”
“And it’s not a pleasant thing to be in his presence, it really isn’t, and to feel it coming from him. And it really was in waves.”
“He was there that morning for one purpose, because he wanted to kill the Jews. And it’s a terrible thing to be in their presence.”
On 27 November, a Greater Manchester Police spokesman said a 31-year-old man was suspected of committing, preparing and instigating acts of terrorism in connection with the attack.
He is the seventh person to be arrested in connection with the terrorist attack on Heaton Park Hebrew Community Synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, on 2 October.
