ANNUAL BRAVERY AWARDS PRESENTATION
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Twenty (21) men and women in Victoria will be presented with bravery awards of The Royal Humane Society of Australasia at a ceremony which combines Australian Bravery Decorations: on Thursday 28 October 2010 at Government House, Melbourne at 11.00am |
The Society awards - 12 Bronze Medals and 9 Certificates of Merit - will be presented by the Governor of Victoria, Prof David de Kretser, AC.
The awards recognize rescues from:
Details of the rescues are attached.
| Contact: |
Colin Bannister (Secretary): (03) 9650 3233 (w) (03) 9646 3667 (h) Sue Cutler (Office Manager): (03) 9650 3233 (w) 0400 441 467 Or visit our Web Site: www.rhsa.org.au (See "Press Releases") |
MARIO BENEDETTI
in going to the rescue of the four occupants of a burning house at Preston on 28 February 2009.
At about 3.30am Mrs Benedetti was woken by the smell of smoke from a neighbouring house on fire. She woke her husband, dialled 000 and the two ran across the road and beat on the doors and windows of the house now well alight.
Eventually one of the occupants answered the door and Mr Benedetti ran into the house, waking the other occupants and driving them out to safety. Mr Benedetti then played a next-door garden hose onto the burning house until the MFB arrived and brought the fire under control.
PETER MOURIKIS
in going to the rescue of a young mother intent on suicide on the Maroondah Highway, Ringwood, Vic on 5 November 2008.
At about 1pm on the Maroondah Highway, Ringwood a mother left her 22 months old baby in a stroller in the middle of the six lane highway then went to the guard rail on the southern side of the highway with the apparent intention of jumping 10m down from an overpass onto Eastlink Freeway.
Mr Mourikis, driving past, saw the abandoned child, stopped, removed the child to safety then went to the mother and brought her to his vehicle. Shortly after, the mother jumped from his car, ran across the highway to the overpass above Eastlink Freeway, climbed through the railing and was hanging 10m above the centre lanes of the freeway.
Mr Mourikis ran across the six-lane highway in pursuit and found the woman hanging some 10m above the centre lanes. He grasped her and pulled her back through the railing onto the footpath.
SHANE JOSEPH HARDING
in going to the rescue of a man from the assault of a man and woman at Preston on 17 July 2009.
At 1pm Mr Harding was leaving his house when he saw two men pushing each other then one collapsed to the footpath with the other man and the woman standing over him, yelling and acting in a threatening manner.
Mr Harding could see that the man lying on the ground was bleeding from the neck area and that the woman had a broken, jagged-edged neck of a bottle in her hand and was thrusting it towards the victim's face.
Mr Harding yelled that the police were on their way whereupon the two assailants moved slowly away. He then took a towel from his car and applied to the victim's throat to stem the bleeding. The victim had been stabbed twice and suffered a 3cm cut to his neck.
Mr Harding rang the police and ambulance, tended the victim and kept observation of the offenders as they walked away. As the police arrived he directed them to the assailants who were then arrested.
ROBERT PAYNE
in going to the rescue of a man, woman and child from a knife-armed assailant at Burwood, Vic on 27 March 2008.
At 4pm a man, his partner and her 13 years old daughter were at home when there was a knock on the door by the woman's former partner, against whom she had taken out an intervention order.
The woman refused entry to the man who broke a window and forced entry, brandishing a 6 inch blade knife.
The daughter fled out the back as, her mother and partner tried to beat the intruder out of the house with a stick but were overpowered and fled the house into the street where they eventually were able to flag down a vehicle. They climbed into the front seat but the door was not closed and as the driver made a sudden turn, his two passengers were flung onto the road, with the woman's partner suffering a severe head wound. As he lay bleeding on the ground the assailant approached him with a knife with the intent of stabbing him.
This incident caused traffic collisions in which Mr Payne was involved. He quickly summed up the situation, grabbed the assailant and threw him to the ground. The assailant then took a baton, dodged around Mr Payne, kicked the woman's partner in the head and ran off as police arrived and arrested him.
SHANE O'BRIEN
in going to the rescue of a woman intent on suicide by jumping over a barrier on City Link, Kensington, Vic on 1 August 2009.
Mr O'Brien, was driving north along City Link near Racecourse Road when he saw a woman looking over the barrier. The distance between City Link overpass and Racecourse Road below is more than 10m.
Mr O'Brien stopped his car and started to walk towards the woman who started to climb over the barrier and was three quarters of the way over when Mr O'Brien grabbed her.
The police then arrived on the scene and saw that Mr O'Brien was physically exhausted by using all his body weight to hold the woman to the barrier and stop her from falling. They dragged her away from the barrier while she continued to try and break free to get back to the barrier.
ALISTAIR THOMPSON
in going to the rescue of a driver of a crashed, burning truck on the Goulburn Valley Highway near Kialla West, Vic on 23 April 2009.
At 4.40pm the driver of a small tray truck veered across the road and collided with a Kenworth K104B prime mover with two trailers. The small tray truck landed upturned on its roof.
The prime mover's windscreen was shattered and the trailers attached to the truck burst into flames. The truck finally rolled onto its left side and skidded to a stop in the middle of the highway.
Mr Thompson who was driving south on the highway saw the incident, stopped, ran to the burning prime mover, removed the windscreen, freed the man who was trapped in the cabin having been impaled by a metal rod, then helped him to a safe location. Mr Thompson then returned to the burning truck to turn off the ignition and turbo timer to make the vehicle safer for attending authorities. Shortly after this the truck also caught on fire.
The driver of the prime mover received critical medical care and survived but the other driver of the smaller truck died later in hospital
For the attending fire fighters it took one hour to bring the fire in the truck and trailer and surrounding vegetation under control.
LACHLAN EDWARDS
SIMON PITMAN
CHRISSIE WHITTINGHAM
JUSTIN JOSEPH
in going to the rescue of two people from drowning in a strong rip at Point Impossible Surf Beach, Vic on 7 November 2009.
At 7pm a young man entered the surf and became caught in a rip which took him some 50m off-shore. He signalled for help to which signal Messrs Edwards and Pitman and Ms Whittingham responded. The two males were able to bring the surfer to shore but Ms Whittingham was caught in the rip and was left 70m out, fatigued and distressed and unable to return to shore.
Mr Edwards re-entered the surf, swam out to Ms Whittingham then, unable to bring her to shore, kept her head above water and tried to re-assure her. At this stage LSC Joseph arrived, swam out to the two in trouble and, in tandem with Mr Edwards, brought Ms Whittingham to safety.
DAVID JAMES
in going to the rescue of possible occupants of at Kennington, Bendigo, on 8 July 2009.
At 5.40am LSC James saw smoke and flames coming from the roof and laundry window of a house.
He went to check if there were any occupants of the burning house but was unable to raise anyone by banging on the door so he forced entry to the house, injuring his foot in the process.
LSC James conducted a room to room search of the house on his own, with no backup for support. He continued to search all likely living and sleeping areas of the house until smoke and falling debris from the ceiling forced him to leave the premises. He was unable to locate any occupants.
The CFA then arrived to control the fire. The owner of the house had left for work an hour before the blaze destroyed more than half the house.
ANDRIJA KANDERA
in going to the rescue of the driver of a crashed burning car on the Midland Highway near Bannockburn, Vic on 5 July 2009.
At 12.50pm Mr Kandera was the passenger in a car driven by his wife when a car in front suddenly veered across the road, struck a tree and caught fire. Mrs Kandera stopped and Mr Kandera jumped from the car, went to the crashed vehicle, opened the driver's door, undid the seat belt, extracted the driver, moved him to a safe location and tended him until an ambulance arrived.
It would appear that the driver had suffered a heart attack, thus causing the accident. His injuries were concussion, stitches in his head, seven broken ribs and a broken ankle. The vehicle was gutted by fire.
SEAN RICHARDSON
in going to the rescue of a young woman from drowning at Albert Park Beach on 24 February 2010.
At 5pm a young man and woman were driving a jet ski 250m offshore where weather conditions were 40-50kph winds and seas with "a very short chop" of about one metre when the jet ski overturned in the rough water. Both were wearing buoyancy vests but shed them in trying to climb back on board their jet ski. The difficult conditions separated them from their craft, with the woman, a non-swimmer, dressed in jeans, with no flotation device, some 200m from shore.
Mr Richardson and a friend who were kite-surfing, happened to pass nearby and heard the man's cry for help and found the woman unconscious, face-down in the water. Mr Richardson pulled the woman's head clear of the water and compressed her chest while his friend went to shore to raise the alarm. With the woman under his arm he then powered his kite and dragged the woman to shore where he commenced CPR until ambulance crews took over and she made a full recovery.
GEORGE CAMILLE
in going to the rescue of a woman from being assaulted by a man at Glen Huntly on 8 September 2009.
At 5.30pm a woman alighted from a train and began to walk towards her residence. She was followed by a man to the block of flats that she lived in. As the woman began to walk up the flight of stairs the offender grabbed her around the waist and the woman screamed, fearing that she was going to be raped.
The offender placed his right hand over her mouth in an attempt to stop her screaming and dragged her backwards down the stairs. The woman was forced to the ground and dragged around the back of the stairwell to a dark secluded area where she was held down and the offender jumped on top of her.
The woman continued to scream and alerted neighbours. Mr Camille, a resident of the block of flats, ran down the stairwell and saw the offender lying on top of the woman. He grabbed the offender and slammed him up against the wall. However the offender managed to break free and fled by jumping over neighbouring fences.
JOSEPH SAMMUT
in going to the rescue of a woman being attacked by two pit bull terriers in Albanvale on 23 December 2009.
At 8am a woman was walking her Jack Russell dog, on a lead, when two pit bull terriers attacked and mauled her dog. In trying to protect her dog the woman was herself attacked and collapsed in shock.
Mr Sammut came to the rescue of the woman and was himself attacked by the terriers and both Mr Sammut and the woman were evacuated to hospital.
JOHN RICKARD
in going to the rescue of a boy from electrocution at Dandenong on 11 August 2007.
At 5.15pm a boy kicked a football onto a church roof. He climbed onto the roof to retrieve the ball when Mr Rickard saw him on the roof apparently suffering from an epileptic fit.
Mr Rickard climbed up onto the roof and, fearful for the boy's safety, spreadeagled himself over the boy to prevent him falling to the ground. As he did so he received an electric shock and realized that part of the roof must be electrified and the boy's convulsions were due to electric shocks. He nevertheless remained with the boy until emergency services people arrived.
The boy suffered extensive injuries and burns and Mr Rickard received burns, cuts and bruises.
MARK EDWARD HENDERSON
NEIL FRANCIS SMITH
in going to the rescue of a man from drowning in his vehicle sinking into the Mitchell River near Bairnsdale on 19 March 2009.
At 3.30pm a driver of a Toyota Hiace apparently suffered a “black-out” as his vehicle mounted a traffic island, hit a tree, crossed the road and came to a stop nose-first in the Mitchell River.
Messrs Henderson and Smith saw the incident and noticed that the driver made no attempt to leave the van. They entered the van from the rear, unbuckled the barely conscious driver and moved him higher up the sloping van which was sinking into the river.
The van was secured with a winch as police and paramedics arrived who gave advice to Messrs Henderson and Smith as to the care of the driver who then was helped to an ambulance.
LLOYD STUART
DALE PETER IVORY
in going to the rescue of a suicidal driver from drowning in his car sinking in the St Kilda Marina on 7 March 2010.
At 8.30pm Messrs Stuart and Ivory were at the St Kilda Marina when they saw a man drive his car down a ramp and into the marina. They threw a lifebuoy to the driver who seemed to ignore it and sank with his car, seeming to hold onto the rear external vision mirror to keep himself submerged.
Messrs Stuart and Ivory, fully clothed, jumped into the water, swam out to the sinking car, duck-dived to retrieve the driver, checked the car for other occupants and dragged the driver to safety.
LENDYL BORGONAH
in going to the rescue of a woman from attempting suicide by jumping off a bridge onto the Monash Freeway, Doveton, on 5 April 2010.
At 8.15pm Mr Borgonah was driving along Power Road, Doveton, crossing the Monash Freeway overpass when he saw a woman hanging on the outer eastern rail of the bridge, dangling over the Monash Freeway. Mr Borgonah did a U-turn and parked his car to go to the aid of the woman who was hanging by her hands, hysterical, suffering depression and was alcohol affected.
Mr Borgonah leant over the overpass railing, and tried to pull the woman to safety. A dog belonging to the woman attacked and bit Mr Borgonah on the leg and pulled at his trousers. Mr Borgonah persisted in his efforts and dragged the woman to safety despite her struggle to break free. Once he had the woman safely on the bridge he calmed her down and transferred her into a passer-by's vehicle to await the arrival of the police.