Siege victim thought she would die

Sheila Tran - the hostage shot twice and stabbed during a fatal siege - has spoken for the first time about the terrifying ordeal that has left her physically and emotionally scarred.

She revealed in a hospital interview that she thought she was going to die before being dramatically rescued.

Ms Tran said she pleaded with Brendan John Lindsay not to hurt her for the sake of her son after Lindsay ran into a Carlisle lunch bar where she worked and dragged her into the street with a knife held to her neck. I said, 'Let me go, I have to look after my son', but he still hold me very tight and I can't pull out," Ms Tran said.

"He is very strong and I was so weak."

Doctors believe Ms Tran will never fully recover from the injuries she received in the hostage drama a fortnight ago.

Video of the incident shows Lindsay, 38, using Ms Tran - whom he did not know - as a human shield while police officers surrounded him with their guns drawn.

Ms Tran said she thought Lindsay was affected by drugs and he became increasingly agitated as police refused his repeated requests for money and a car.

"I wanted to save my life, so I say to him, 'I give you my car and you can go'," Ms Tran said.

"But he said, 'No, I can't go. The police are everywhere'."

Negotiations continued for several minutes until Lindsay snapped and plunged the knife into her back.

Police responded by opening fire, killing Lindsay and seriously wounding Ms Tran in what was described by witnesses as a hail of bullets.

"When he used the knife on my back and he hurt me . . . I heard 'boom, boom, boom' and I just fell," she said.

"Then when I fall down, more pain, more pain - I feel pain around my whole body. I could see my blood. I thought I was dying.

"Every night I just open my eyes and remember the day it happened and I cry."

The first bullet to hit Ms Tran went upwards through her arm and into her shoulder where it shattered bones.

Doctors have told her that she will only regain partial movement of her arm when her wounds heal.

Ms Tran was also told she was lucky not to lose the lower half of her right leg after the second bullet severed an artery, cutting the blood supply to her calf and foot.

"My leg is all numb, tingling pins and needles every day," Ms Tran said. "I can't lift it up."

"My hand . . . I can lift a little but that is it.

"Doctors, they say sorry to me. They did their best."

Before Lindsay collapsed from his injuries, he stabbed Ms Tran twice in the back.

She needed 24 stitches but the wounds were not life-threatening.

Ms Tran said she believed the actions of police saved her life.

The 39-year-old moved to Perth from Vietnam about 20 years ago and has a 15-year-old son.

Her mother has flown to Perth from Vietnam to be with her as she recovers in Royal Perth Hospital's trauma unit.

Seven News presenter Susannah Carr interviewed Ms Tran and said she was struck by her courage.

"This gentle, beautiful woman is struggling to accept her new reality and no wonder," she said.

"Not only is she dealing with extensive and life-changing injuries, she also has the ongoing psychological battle with terrifying memories of that fateful Saturday."

When she is well enough to leave RPH, Ms Tran will be transferred to Fiona Stanley Hospital to have months of intensive rehabilitation.

The internal investigation into the shooting is continuing but no charges are likely to be laid against the officers involved.

Lindsay's father John witnessed the shooting and has said the officers were just doing their job. He revealed that his son had struggled with mental illness for many years, as well as an addiction to drugs such as heroin and ice.