The humble homeless hero who helped police take down the Bourke Street terrorist has revealed the one regret about the selfless act that put his own life in danger.
Michael Rogers said he wishes his beloved late grandmother was still alive to see the astonishing footage of the 46-year-old taking on Hassan Khalif Shire Ali, 30, as the attacker repeatedly lunged at police officers with a knife.
Mr Rogers repeatedly rammed Ali with a shopping trolley after the Somalian stabbed three people, killing well known cafe co-owner Sisto Malaspina, 74.
Now known in Melbourne and across Australia as the Trolley Man, Michael Rogers (pictured) believes his late grandmother would have been proud of his heroic actions on Friday
Shire Ali later died in hospital after he was shot in the chest by a police officer.
Still coming to terms with his new fame as the ‘Trolley Man’, Mr Rogers paid tribute to his late grandmother, who he described as the ‘dearest lady’ who he often let down.
He was in jail serving time for aggravated burglary when she died in 2013, aged 92.
‘She would have been exceptionally proud,’ Mr Rogers told The Age.
Mr Rogers said he had a tough childhood and grew up in a housing commission unit with a mother who was addicted to Benzone.
He went to live with his grandmother at age 14.
‘I loved her dearly but the problem I had being that age was I had already grown up a little too quickly. I was a bit of a lost cause. Trouble came my way far more often than not,’ Mr Rogers told The Age.
With a lengthy criminal career and a history of drug use, the homeless man admitted he has not always had a good experience with police, but said he wanted to help and ‘do something right for the first time in [his] life.’
A GoFundMe page was established by Melbourne Homeless Collective founder and managing director Donna Stolzenberg on Saturday to raise funds to help Mr Rogers get his life back on track.
‘He’s a hero in our eyes and he can do what he feels best with any funds he receives. He risked his own life that day for nothing in return and you can’t put a price on that,’ the page states.
More than $96,000 has been raised by almost 3,400 people so far.
Michael Rogers was hailed a hero after he attempted to take down a knife-wielding man using a shopping trolley during Friday’s horrific attack on Melbourne’s Bourke Street (pictured)
‘We’re absolutely blown away by everyone’s generosity and spirit in helping our hero ‘Trolleyman’, get back on his feet. We don’t actually have a set target to reach but due to the incredible generosity we’ve seen so far we’ll keep increasing the total accordingly,’ an update on the page states.
Mr Rogers said he’s unsure what he’ll do with the money but has vowed to get his act together.
Ms Stolzenberg says she’s aware of Mr Rogers’ checkered past and will work to connect him with homeless services and help him use the money in appropriate ways.
‘As a person he just deserves it,’ she said.
‘This funding is growing and may grow further. Michael is experiencing homelessness and probably hasn’t had much experience with large sums of money.’
Mr Rogers told 7 News on Saturday he didn’t see his actions as heroic, but believes they may have helped to save lives.
Bystander Michael Rogers (pictured) says he doesn’t see himself as a hero
‘I’ve seen the trolley at the side and so I picked it up and ran,’ he said, while imitating the action,’ he said.
‘I threw the trolley straight at him, and I got him. I didn’t quite get him down, though.
‘I did that motion quite a number of times but it just wasn’t getting him down.’
Mr Roger’s phone shattered during the melee, but he said it was a small price to pay to defend his city.
He was seen shaking hands with a police officer who thanked him for his help.
But not all police officers were happy with his efforts, with Victoria Police Commissioner Graham Ashton urging civilians to avoid putting their lives at risk like Mr Rogers did.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Michael Rogers. Pictured is amount raised on Sunday night as the tally continues to rise
Melbourne Homeless Collective founder Donna Stolzenberg established a GoFundMe page (pictured) in order to help Mr Rogers ‘get back on his feet’
But police want to avoid copy-cat scenarios in potential future incidents.
Police Commissioner Graham Ashton said authorities had spoken with Mr Rogers, but the public should not be putting themselves on the front line in dangerous situations.
‘Look, you just have to be a bit careful about — in that situation how close you do get — because he could have been injured himself,’ Mr Ashton told Weekend Today on Saturday.
‘But certainly he was acting in the spur of the moment and looking to support the police.
‘There was a number of people that did that and we are always grateful when the community are supporting our police members.’
Video showed a man wielding a knife attempt to stab and slash at two police officers before he was shot with a taser and fell to the ground, while a brave shopper tried to hit him with a trolley
Mr Rogers received an outpouring of public support online and from civilians in the street, with people telling him he was ‘a hero’, and ‘a champion’.
‘Extraordinary and humbling. So many people look upon the homeless (if they even look at all) with disdain and, sometimes, even fear, yet this man, who doesn’t even have a home, risked the only thing he has – his life – to keep strangers safe,’ one person said.
Another said: ‘Trolley man is everything great about Australia. He’s not running away. He’s helping in a crisis, and he’s doing it in a ridiculous but effective way.’
‘Total respect to the shopping trolley hero trying to take down a mad knife man with nothing but a metal basket on not very good wheels,’ one person tweeted.
‘Incredible work by police in Melbourne but also bystanders – one using a trolley to try subdue the man,’ another said.
‘Cops trying to take down man armed with knife. Passerby seems to be trying to take him out with a shopping trolley!’ one comment said.