Emmanuel Macron declares ‘Bollard Man’ a French hero for his bravery in confronting Westfield Bondi Junction massacre knifeman – after Anthony Albanese offered him Australian citizenship

Emmanuel Macron has declared ‘Bollard Man’ a French hero after he faced down crazed killer Joel Cauchi during his Westfield Bondi Junction massacre. 

Damien Guerot earned the nickname ‘Bollard Man’ after a viral video showed him bravely confronting mass murderer Joel Cauchi on an escalator. 

The heroic actions of Mr Guerot and his his fellow Frenchman Silas Despreaux stopped the knifeman from reaching an area where many children had been playing in the shopping centre.

Now the French President has praised the bravery of his two countrymen, while sharing  his ‘condolences’ for the six victims of Saturday’s attack.  

‘Condolences to the Australians struck by an attack in a shopping center in Sydney on Saturday,’ Macron posted on X. 

‘Two of our compatriots behaved like true heroes. Very great pride and recognition.’

Macron’s comments come after Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese promised to grant Mr Guerot citizenship for his heroism amid reprots his visa expires in a month.

It is understood Mr Despreaux already has permanent residency. 

‘I say this to Damien Guerot, who is dealing with his visa applications, that you are welcome here,’ Mr Albanese said on Tuesday. 

‘You are welcome to stay for as long as you like. 

‘This is someone who we would welcome becoming an Australian citizen, although that would of course be a loss for France. 

‘We thank him for his extraordinary bravery. It says a lot about the nature of humanity.

‘At a time when we are facing difficult issues that someone who is not a citizen of this country stood bravely at the top of those escalators and stopped this perpetrator from getting onto another floor and potentially inflicting further carnage on citizens.

‘I think that on Saturday we saw some of the best of human character at the same time as we saw such devastating tragedy and I thank Damien for his extraordinary efforts.’

He was going to the gym with Mr Despreaux on Saturday afternoon when they stumbled across the scene of carnage. 

‘We tried to catch him but he was going down the stairs,’ Mr Guerot told 7News. 

‘Then we saw him going down so we followed him from the top. We tried to maybe throw the bollard to him but we couldn’t.’ 

Mr Guerot said he was running off pure ‘adrenaline’.

‘We didn’t think. You cannot think in that moment,’ he said.

Mr Guerot said Cauchi had ’empty eyes’ and pictures of him released today looked nothing like the man who embarked on an indiscriminate stabbing frenzy.

‘His eyes were like empty eyes… he wasn’t there,’ Mr Guerot said.

The two mates launched the bollards at Cauchi but he managed to escape.

Mr Guerot grabbed a chair and made chase with NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott who shot Cauchi dead after he lunged at her.

The Frenchman praised the quick-thinking of Inspector Scott.

‘She was actually the hero, she did the job,’ he said. 

Cauchi seemingly targeted women in the attack but authorities are yet to pinpoint a motive for the nation’s worst massacre in recent years. 

He was shot dead after killing Dawn Singleton, 25, Jade Young, 47, Pikria Darchia, 55, Yixuan Cheng, 27 and 30-year-old Faraz Tahir, while Ashlee Good, 38, later died in hospital.

A baby girl critically injured in the carnage is showing signs of recovery.

Seven people, including the child, remained in hospital on Monday night.

Health Minister Ryan Park said her condition had improved.

‘Pleasingly, we have seen the nine-month-old baby in the children’s hospital at Randwick have her condition downgraded from critical to serious,’ he said.

‘We hope to have her on a ward over the next few days.’