Press Releases - Royal Humane Society of Australasia

The Society awards – 1 Posthumous Medal, 4 Silver Medals, 14 Bronze Medals and 16 Certificates of Merit - will be presented by The Honourable Alex Chernov, AC, QC, Governor of Victoria. Mr Ron Barassi, AM, former Australian Rules Football Player is to receive the Bronze Medal of the Society in going to the rescue of a woman from being assaulted by a man at St Kilda on 1 January 2009.

THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY OF AUSTRALASIA AWARD RECIPIENTS 2011/2012

SAMUEL EDWARD PORTER, student, aged 17 years, of Brighton East, Vic, in going to the rescue of a youth from being assaulted by a gang of youths and then from being run over by an approaching train at Gardenvale Railway Station, Vic on 6 June 2010.

At about 5pm Samuel was waiting on the platform for a train when he became aware of a youth being kicked and punched by other men at the station. As Mr Porter approached the victim, the attackers ran off. The victim then jumped from the platform onto the train tracks in the face of an oncoming train.

Mr Porter jumped from the platform and despite the man’s struggling, was able to get him back onto the platform moments before the train arrived.

RHYS JACK MARSHALL (dec), student, aged 22 years of Mt Pleasant, Vic, in going to the rescue of a man from self-harm at Ballarat, Vic on 10 May 2009.

After 12.40am Mr Marshall saw a man having an argument with his girlfriend. The man was heavily intoxicated and agitated and began hitting his head on a pole.

Mr Marshall approached the man to help him. The man punched Mr Marshall who fell backwards unconscious and hit his head on the ground whilst the assailant continued to punch him before departing the scene.

SHONA CARVER, of Werribee, in going to the rescue of four children when their mother attempted to set fire to their house at Werribee on 17 July 2009.

At 12.30pm Snr Const Carver was off-duty at home and his pager alerted him to a fire at the house next door. At about the same time the oldest child of the family, approached Mrs Carver upset and saying that her mother was going to set their house on fire.

Snr Const Carver could hear a woman screaming and could hear children crying. He tried to enter the house but all the doors had been locked. Snr Const Carver then tried to enter the house via a front window which was open and tried to stop the mother from closing it. She attempted to hit Snr Const Carver but he was able to dislodge the window from its rails.

Snr Const Carver saw the mother return to the kitchen area and could see four children in the lounge room sitting on the floor but they were unable to come to the window when he called them as a sarong had been tied to a coffee table and around the children’s legs.

The mother came back into the room yelling and screaming and grabbed one of the children in a bear hug and began squeezing it tightly. The child began screaming and Snr Const Carver concerned that the child might be harmed, jumped through the window and wrestled the mother to the ground.

Mrs Carver entered through the window and untied the children and took them to her house for safety until the police arrived.

MATHEW TAFT, tow truck driver, aged 32 years, of Castlemaine, Vic, in going to the rescue of a woman trapped in a car sinking in the flooded Muckleford Creek, Muckleford South on 27 November 2010.

At 9.30pm as a woman crossed the Muckleford Creek her car was washed off the road by the fast moving floodwaters and sunk in after becoming caught on a wire fence. The creek was flooded across the Pyrenees Highway and about 20m in width from one side to the other with the water running extremely fast and it was dark with no lighting.

Mr McDonald saw hazard lights in the water on the northern side of the flood waters and he waded approximately 100m across the creek to the woman in her car which was staring to sink. He managed to open the driver’s door and help her out of the car.

They then attempted to get back to the road against the fast flowing current but they entered some very deep water. Mr McDonald then helped the woman to grab a gum tree nearby and held onto her, keeping her head above water.

Mr Taft arrived on the scene and notified police of the location. He then assisted by driving his truck out into the flooded creek and aimed his headlights at Mr McDonald and the woman. Once SES personnel with rescue equipment arrived, Mr Taft took a life vest with a rope attached and waded towards the woman and Mr McDonald and threw a life vest to the woman. He instructed her to put the life vest on and then pulled her to safety.

in going to the rescue of two divers from being crushed against rocks at St Paul’s Beach, Sorrento, Vic on 26 January 2011.

At 11.15am Consts Giampiccolo and Guerin and Ms Armstrong received a call to attend St Paul’s Beach where two divers were in difficulty.

They observed a diver out of the water holding onto a second diver who was being pushed against the rocks by waves. The second diver was bleeding from cuts to his face and was too exhausted to haul himself from the water. Consts Giampiccolo, Guerin and Ms Armsrong dragged the diver from the water exhausted, breathing rapidly and semi conscious.

Const Giampiccolo, Guerin and Ms Armstrong immediately went back to the water’s edge where they observed the third diver holding onto his water tank for buoyancy. He eventually moved closer to shore but was pushed against the rocks by waves. Paramedic Armstrong knelt down on the rock edge and reached out, trying to grab hold of the third diver. The waves continued to crash against the rocks each time splashing over the head of Paramedic Armstrong. Const Guerin had concerns for the safety of Paramedic Armstrong and knelt on the rocks at the water’s edge and with her arm outstretched held onto Paramedic Armstrong.

A further large wave crashed against the rocks, with the swell pushing the diver toward Paramedic Armstrong and Consts Giampiccolo and Guerin. In a joint effort they were able to drag the diver from the water.

(Unfortunately Ms Armstrong was unable to attend the investiture)

DAMIAN SIMON HALL, aged 37 years, of Burnside, Vic, in going to the rescue of three people from a dog attack at Burnside on 17 November 2011.

At 10.50am a woman was pushing her grandson in his pram when a large English bull terrier charged at them and commenced a prolonged, vicious attack, biting and clawing at both victims.

Mr Hall who witnessed the incident, grabbed a large wrench and began striking the dog with it about 5 or 6 times before it turned its attention to Mr Hall and started to bite him.

Mr Hall quickly grabbed the young child out of to the pram and handed him to another person who jumped onto the tray of his utility.

The dog then continued to attack the grandmother who was lying on the ground being bitten. Mr Hall grabbed the dog by the throat and lifted it off the woman who then ran and jumped into the front of the utility.

At that time a neighbour came out of her house and the dog charged at her. She tripped and fell with the dog attacking and biting her. Mr Hall again grabbed the dog by the throat and lifted it onto its back legs so the woman could get inside her house.

JAMES TROTTER, miner, aged 20 years, of Moe, Vic, in going to the rescue of a co-miner suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning in the Morningstar Gold Mine, Woods Point, Vic, on 29 January 2012.

At 8.00am Mr Trotter carried some explosives to the sub level and saw a man collapsed about 60m from the bottom of the ladder, lying on his back and calling out for Mr Trotter.

Mr Trotter carried the man 20ms to the other side of the ladder where there was fresh air and the gas detectors showed that it was safe. Mr Trotter administered oxygen to the man and went to seek help. The man was then taken to the surface.

DIANE SUSAN MacLEOD, Kinglake CFA member & bookkeeper, aged 45 years, of Kinglake, Vic

Ms MacLeod took the brigade car to a fire reported at Olive’s Lane and made sure that no further cars continued going south. She also placed bollards at the round-about preventing vehicles from travelling south to St Andrews.

She then went to help protect the Fire Station by patrolling the eastern and northern side of the Fire Station, knocking down embers and small spot fires which started within 5m of the station.

Ms MacLeod then rode in the lead vehicle of a convoy of ambulances after the fire-front had passed to check on a report of 50 people trapped at the Kinglake East Primary School. On arrival it was determined that the residents sheltering were not injured.

KELLY JOHNSON, Kinglake CFA firefighter and student, aged 20 years, of Kinglake

Ms Johnson went over to the Kinglake Hotel to fight the fire and embers. She then went in the brigade car to collect residents who had been injured when their home exploded, killing 5 people.

Messrs McDonald-Price and Gaskett volunteered to help protect the Fire Station. During the fire they continued patrolling the eastern and northern side of the Fire Station, knocking down embers and small spot fires which started within 5m of the station.

They also took the fire hose over to a spot fire at the real estate agency that was also threatening the medical clinic as well as controlling a series of spot fires along the fence lines in a nearby street.

Mr Mulvey went to fight the fire and embers at the Kinglake Hotel and assisted in moving hoses back and forth behind to the front of the hotel and back again to protect the hotel, the motel units and the Fire Station form the south west side.

JAMES BRENDON MacLEOD, Kinglake CFA member/instructor, aged 60 years, of Kinglake

Mr MacLeod held the door of the Fire Station, ensuring it was shut to keep the embers and smoke out and escorting in residents seeking shelter. He also provided first-aid and assistance to residents and after the main fire-front had passed, he helped to repair and maintain the generator in order to keep power available to the station.

PATRICIA HENDRIE, Kinglake CFA member & aged carer, aged 57 years, of Kinglake

FIONA STAVENUITER, disability house supervisor, aged 49 years, of Kinglake, in going to the rescue of numerous residents sheltering in the Kinglake Fire Station at Kinglake during the “Black Saturday” bushfires on 7 February 2009.

Ms Wilson, Ms Hendrie, Ms Mulvey and Ms Stavenuiter were inside the Fire Station taking constant calls from residents seeking information, including calls from distressed residents who then perished in the fires. They also handed out masks for residents due to the smoke in the Fire Station and provided drinking water. Ms Stavenuiter provided first-aid and went across to the medical clinic to source needed items such as respirators and bandages.

WARREN JONES, of Heidelberg Heights, Vic, in going to the rescue of a man who had fallen 40m into Lennard River Gorge, 200km east of Derby, WA on 26 April 2009.

At about 3.00pm a man fell 40m to the bottom of the Lennard River Gorge waterfalls. Mr Jones, who was at the bottom of the falls was alerted to this fact and he dived into the water searching for the man. At a depth of 5m he saw the man on the bottom and pulled him to the surface and swum with him to a rock ledge. The man had suffered severe head trauma, a possible punctured lung and possible fractured femur.

While others went to alert emergency services, other people at the scene started to help keep the man stable on the rock ledge. After about an hour and a half the man stopped breathing and had no pulse. Mr Jones and another man commenced CPR which they continued for another hour and a half.

TRICIA CATHERINE HILL, new homes sales consultant and CFA volunteer, aged 47 years, of Kinglake

BARRY BYRNE, gas ramp attendant and CFA volunteer, aged 52 years, of Kinglake

JASON SMART, CFA volunteer, aged 42 years, of Whittlesea, Vic, in going to the rescue of numerous people in the Kinglake area during the “Black Saturday” bushfires on 7 February 2009.

At 4.00pm Kinglake Tanker 2 (KLT2) with the abovementioned on board was called out to a house fire in Jacksons Road The police and civilians were placed in the house for protection and the tanker was on the left hand side of the house to enable deployment of hoses to the front, side and back of the residence.

When the wind changed direction a fire ball engulfed the wall of the house and the crew had to continue to douse the house with water until the fire had passed. Some of the crew received small minor burns/injuries.

Once the house and the 12 people sheltering in it had been saved, the Kinglake Tanker returned to Jacksons Road and whilst clearing the road of burning trees and debris they saw a woman and a child on the road heading towards Kinglake. They pulled over and rushed to their aid. The woman had burns to her hands and face and was a family friend of the child. The child was approximately 10 years old and had extensive burns over her entire body. Mr Hutchinson commenced first-aid on the young girl using water on her burns and Ms Byrne and Ms Hill got a blanket to hold up against the embers and debris to stop them falling on the young girl. The woman and child were then taken out of the fire zone via police vehicle to meet the ambulance.

PAMELA CROW, aged 70 years, of Merbein, in going to the rescue of a man from his crashed and burning utility at Meredith on 20 October 2011.

At 2.00pm a man lost control of his utility and it collided heavily with a tree bursting into flames.

Mr & Mrs Crow came across the accident and immediately stopped. They both ran across to the utility and saw the man trapped in the driver’s seat. Mr & Mrs Crow desperately struggled for some minutes to open the door while the man screamed to be helped. They managed to finally open the door and both dragged him to safety.

DANIEL LEAN, police officer, of Mornington, Vic, in going to the rescue of a man from his sunken boat at Pelican Point, Mt Eliza on 24 January 2012.

At 10.00am Mr Mathers was working on a building site overlooking the beach when he saw a boat sink with two people clinging to the bow which was protruding from the water. At the time the waves were 1.5m and blowing onshore. He quickly ran to the beach and entered the water, unaided and swam 200m to the aid of one man who had lost consciousness and pu a fuel can under him, placed the man on his back and physically dragged him whilst swimming back to the beach. CPR was then administered to the man but unfortunately he was not able to be resuscitated.

A/Sgt Lean responded to the call of a boat having capsized off Pelican Point and was alerted to a second man 100m off shore clinging to a life jacket and screaming for help. A/Sgt Lean entered the water and swam 100m to the drowning man who could not swim. A/Sgt Lean brought the man to the beach suffering mild hypothermia.

AUSTIN MILLAR, aged 8 years, of Norlane, Vic, in going to the rescue of a 3 years old boy from a burning house at Corio, on 25 April 2012.

At 12.50pm Austin was helping to dry the dishes with his mother when he smelt smoke coming from an adjoining room. He quickly ran to the room, covered his mouth with his jumper and entered the burning room and rescued his younger brother.

LUCA MARTINOVIC, aged 61 years, in going to the rescue of a girl from being assaulted at Sunshine Railway Station, Sunshine, Vic, on 27 March 2012.

At 4.20pm Ms Martinovic was walking through the underpass at Sunshine Railway Station when she saw a large group of 20-30 young people involved in a physical altercation with one young woman being attacked.

Ms Martinovic approached the group and asked them to stop attacking the girl who was trying to get away. Ms Martinovic tried to help the girl by grabbing her hand.

DANIEL GRULKE, student, aged 17 years, of Narre Warren South, Vic, in going to the rescue of a girl from being hit by a train at Beaconsfield Station, Beaconsfield, Vic on 27 March 2012.

At 5.00pm a girl intent on suicide started to walk along the railway tracks towards an incoming train to Beaconsfield Station. The driver of the train started to break heavily whilst sounding the horn about 150m from the girl. People started to yell at her to get off the tracks to no avail.

When the train was about 25m away Mr Gulke jumped from the platform onto the railway tracks and managed to push the girl out of the path of the oncoming train and into the grass on the side of the tracks.

RONALD DALE BARASSI, AM, aged 72 years, in going to the rescue of a woman from being assaulted by a man at St Kilda, Vic on 1 January 2009.

At 12.20am Mr Barassi and friends were at a restaurant when a woman fell to the ground near their table after being punched by a man.

Mr Barassi got up and chased the man and grabbed him further along the footpath, causing both men to fall to the ground. The other man got to his feet and assaulted Mr Barassi and numerous other associates of the man also assaulted Mr Barassi punching and kicking him.