A millimetre from death: Innocent gang war survivor Ramadan Osman tells incredible story

A man who survived a stray bullet that hit him in the head reveals how he escaped being an innocent victim of Sydney’s gang war.

There have been more than a dozen men killed on Sydney’s streets in the past 18 months as the city’s gang war has erupted – two of them have been completely innocent victims.

If not for a miracle, there would have been another: Ramadan Osman.

Mr Osman, 26, was sitting with his younger brother outside their home on Boundary Rd at Chester Hill late on August 6, 2021, when a few hundred metres up the road low level Alameddine crime clan member Shady Kanj was assassinated.

As the gunmen sprayed Kanj’s car, a stray bullet hit Mr Osman in the head.

How it did not kill him he still does not know.

THE WAR: WATCH THE FIRST TWO EPISODES

Mr Osman returning home from Westmead Hospital after being shot on August 6, 2021. (Picture: Julian Andrews).

“I was shot in the head. Not grazed, shot, where it literally entered and came out from the top of my skull, it actually scratched my skull,” Mr Osman said.

“Even the doctor told me: ‘You were one millimetre away from death’.

“When he told me that, I said … well what do you say to that?”

Mr Osman’s story features in episode three of The Telegraph’s video series The War: Blood and Vengeance.

Ramadan Osman at home this week. He survived but still faces ongoing physical and mental challenges from the shooting. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

He was studying to be a personal trainer at the time Kanj – a drug runner for the Alameddines – drove down Boundary Rd with a friend to do one last drop off.

“I’ve got two trips real quick. Me and you,” Kanj told his mate in one of his final text messages.

Ramadan Osman’s head after a bullet struck him in 2021.

But as they arrived at the address it soon became clear they had been deliberately lured to a dead end road.

As his friend tried to speed off four gunmen peppered the car with bullets fatally wounding Kanj, while one hit an oblivious Mr Osman in the skull.

“I thought someone threw a rock, I literally said: ‘Who threw a rock or firework on my street’,” Mr Osman said.

“I put my hand on my head and literally, I had a metal piece on my head.

“I’ve opened the door and ran inside, (but) because I can’t see without my glasses I’ve run head first into the wall, fallen backwards and injured myself more.

“My mum’s screaming – she’s seen blood coming out of my head – my little sister was in my room, my little brother was playing PS5, they’ve seen it, they were traumatised.”

Mr Osman’s father ran to help and bandaged his head, but within minutes the loss of blood had an impact.

Low-level Alameddine member Shady Kanj was shot dead as he went to do a drug drop-off on Boundary Rd in Chester Hill.

Police believe four gunmen shot Kanj dead, while a friend he was in the car with was also shot – but managed to drive off. Picture: Julian Andrews.

In that moment, he admits he thought he would die.

“Honestly, we’ve got this thing where we say our last word, the shahadah, and I thought – I’m going to die, so I said it a couple of times,” Mr Osman said.

“I’ve lost so much blood that I’m losing power, so I put my hand around dad.

“In that moment all I was thinking was: ‘Am I going to survive, or is my mum going to see me die?’ So I said to my dad: ‘Dad, take me outside … I’m not dying in front of mum or the kids’.

“I said to my dad: All I want is your love and just to be happy with me, even when I go’.”

When he returned from hospital the next morning he smiled for media who were in the street covering the killing of Kanj, and his miraculous escape.

But while Mr Osman escaped with his life that night, he is far from being mentally or physically unscathed.

Mr Osman’s story features in episode three of The Telegraph’s video series The War: Blood and Vengeance.

Part of his reason for featuring in The War was to offer an insight into the impact of the shootings, long after the gunmen have sped off.

“I had a month left to become a (certified) personal trainer, I’ve lost that. I had a business I wanted to open, I’ve lost that,” he said.

“I’ve got a bad disc in my neck, a bad disc in my lower back, I’ve got depression, anxiety, you name it.

“I don’t sleep, I have nightmares, I’ve broken six veneers – that’s how much I grind my teeth in my sleep. If I hear a car backfire or someone drops a big weight in the gym, I duck for cover.

Kanj is one of more than a dozen men to be shot dead on Sydney’s streets in the past 18 months. Picture: Damian Shaw

“Every time I go out now my little sister says: ‘Rama, please be safe, drive safe’. It’s not pleasant.

“I’m trying to be strong, I really am, but you’re breaking and no one knows that you’re breaking, but I am.”

While Mr Osman has no association with any of the warring crime networks or bikie gangs, the underworld war hit close to home again just last month when Rami Iskander was shot dead.

Iskander, 23, was someone he had grown up with and was on the guest list for Mr Osman’s wedding.

“I knew Rami. I grew up with the kid … he was a good kid, such a beautiful heart. But what happened there, I have no idea,” he said.

“Honestly, it’s upsetting, so upsetting.

“I wasn’t born in this country, I lived ten years in Lebanon, I lived through war, I lived through poverty.

“I came to this country and it’s a blessing, so why stuff that up?”