Survivors of the Nairobi mall shooting.
Fifteen months on, McLaren told the Herald on Sunday that for survivors of this week's Sydney siege, the emotional scars will take a long time to heal.
Hostages Katrina Dawson and Toni Johnson and gunman Man Haron Monis died during the 16-hour siege in the Lindt cafe, which ended early on Tuesday.
"I know what it is like to have your life changed in the blink of an eye," he said. "You have no idea the whole world is watching your every move and it is all being captured on video.
"You are simply in survival mode and concentrating on getting out of there alive. Afterwards, you see all this news footage and you can't take it in that it actually happened to you.
"It is like you have been part of a surreal movie. It is pretty hard to get your head around."
McLaren, 35, was working for a natural health products company in Kenya when he was shot twice by militants rampaging through the shopping complex.
One of the bullets lodged just 3mm from his heart. He was rushed to hospital in a taxi where surgeons saved his life.
"Kathy and I were sitting in the cafe when we heard what we thought was a car backfiring," he said. "Then the sounds got louder and I saw people starting to drop.
"The next thing I knew I was hit, too, and suddenly I was on the floor and fighting for my life."
As the drama in Sydney unfolded this week, Auckland-based McLaren couldn't help reflecting on his own terror ordeal.
"It is amazing how total strangers who might never otherwise have even met form an instant bond and start to rely on each other.
"Because I had been shot, I focused on coping with the physical pain and probably that actually made things easier to deal with.
"Kathy was unhurt physically but what happened had a big impact on her mentally. We also had friends who were trapped in the mall for hours while the gunmen were killing people. Although they got out, they were badly affected emotionally and some are still trying to come to terms with it."
The McLarens returned to New Zealand after Andrew was discharged from hospital.
However, he decided the best way to deal with his demons was to face them. He made four trips back to Kenya before taking up a new job in Auckland three months ago.
"Kathy does not want to go back to Kenya and I respect her feelings," he said. "She was not pleased I returned but she understood it was something I had to do.
"I love the country and, just like the people in Sydney, I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
McLaren said he went back to the shopping mall expecting to be overwhelmed with emotion. Surprisingly, he felt very little.
"Yes, it was very traumatic being shot. But it happened, I got better and I made a decision to move on.
"I treat it just the same as if I had been injured playing rugby. Everyone has different ways of dealing with things and I guess this is the way I have dealt with what happened to me."
McLaren believes the Sydney survivors will recover more quickly if they can direct their focus away from Monis' beliefs.
"There is no point in blaming a religion because of the actions of one man," he said. "I don't hate Islam, in fact I have a lot of Islamic friends."
McLaren warned New Zealanders should not be complacent.
"New Zealand is not immune to this sort of thing. Nowhere is."
