A veteran Australian lifeguard was hailed as a hero Saturday for ignoring an evacuation order so he could help treat mass stabbing victims at a Sydney shopping center.

Andrew "Reidy" Reid, who appears on the hit reality TV series "Bondi Rescue," told News 9 Australia that he was shopping for a bed at the Westfield Bondi Junction mall when someone came into the store and said there's "people being stabbed outside."

Reid said he was on his way out when he saw a woman bleeding on the floor and told a mall worker, "Mate, I need to go and help. Can you lift the shutters up?"

After the man let him under, Reid said he "went around and there was this lady -- there was just so much blood."

Reid said there were "multiple victims," including one woman he helped treat with two ambulance workers.

"We did a fair bit of CPR but I don't, I don't think she's going to make it," he said sadly. "There was so much blood. It was crazy."

Reid said he helped treat three victims, including one whose bleeding was stemmed.

"I think she'll be OK, but the other two, they are in a really bad way," he said.

At least six people, five of them women, were killed by an unidentified man before he was fatally shot by a police officer.

Eight other victims were wounded, including a 9-month-old baby whose mother was slain.

Reid said the horrific scene was worse than anything he had ever experienced.

"I've seen some pretty gnarly stuff in the 20 years on the beach and there's nothing like it," he said.

When a news anchor praised him for "going into the fray to save lives," Reid downplayed his actions, saying, "I mean, that's what we do."

He also credited an unidentified man who was caught on camera using a post to try to stop the assailant.

"I just saw the footage of the guy with the bollard. I reckon he's the real hero here. He's, like, amazing," Reid said. "He obviously did his best. I didn't see what happened after. I hope he did some damage with the bollard."