Erik de Haart, who survived and heroically helped save others in the 2002 Bali bombings, has died.
Coogee Dolphins club president Wayne Hack shared the news with “profound sadness” that de Haart had died suddenly.
“Erik was a loyal servant, life member and sponsor of our club,” he said.
“He will forever be remembered in the immediate aftermath of the Bali tragedy of 2002 as a hero.
“The Coogee Dolphins would like to extend our deepest and heartfelt sympathies to Erik’s immediate and extended family and his many friends.”
Haart and his rugby league club teammates had arrived in Bali and were at the Sari Club on October 12, 2002.
That night, two bombs orchestrated by terrorist groups exploded at the Sari Club and Paddy’s Bar.
A total of 202 people, including 88 Australians, were killed and another 240 people were injured.
A third bomb struck near the US consulate in Denpasar.
de Haart lost six of his friends but helped save others and pull them from the burning ruins of the Sari Club.
“I heard these girls crying for help, screaming. They were behind a section of the roof that had fallen in,” de Haart told AAP in 2016.
“The flames from the burning thatch were probably knee to mid-thigh high. I had to make a decision.
“Do I try and get them out and perhaps die in the attempt?
“I had to walk away and leave those girls to die and it’s something that’s haunted me for a long, long time … It’s made me feel like an impostor.
“People say ‘you’re a hero’. And I remember those girls and I don’t think I’m a hero.”
Various members of the terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah were convicted over the bombings and three were sentenced to death.
