ANNUAL BRAVERY AWARDS PRESENTATION

The awards, eleven Bronze Medals and Eleven Certificates of Merit will be presented by Her Excellency Ms Penelope Wensley, AC, Governor of Queensland.

The awards recognize:

• The rescue of the victims of a knife-wielding assailant at Burnett Heads

• The rescue of a boy from drowning in a stormwater drain at Cloncurry

• The rescue of a woman attempting suicide by jumping from Story Bridge

• The rescue of a man attempting suicide by jumping from a bridge into the Pioneer River, MacKay

• the rescue of a security guard from being attacked by a woman armed with a syringe at Fortitude Valley

• The rescue of a two people from drowning in floodwaters at Forest Hill

• The rescue of a man from suicide from self-immolation at Broadbeach

• The rescue of a woman and her three children from their burning house at Palm Beach

• The rescue of a boy from drowning in Josephine Creek, south of Miriwinni

• The rescue of a man being held hostage by a knife-wielding assailant at Maryborough

• The rescue of 37 passengers and crew of the boat "Romance" washed onto rocks at Cape Cove, off Hook Island

Details of the rescues are attached.

THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY OF AUSTRALASIA

CITATIONS 2009/2010

BRONZE MEDAL

RYAN SHORTHOUSE, kitchen hand, aged 17 years, of Bundaberg, Qld, and

BRONZE MEDAL

JAI SHORTHOUSE, student, aged 15 years, of Bundaberg, in going to the rescue of a man being attacked by a man armed with knives at Burnett Heads, Qld on 6 April 2008.

Ryan and Jai worked part-time at the Blue Water Club, Burnett Heads. At about 7.30pm the chef, Ryan and Jai were at work in the club's kitchen when the assailant appeared with a knife in both hands, threatening "I'm going to kill you".

Jai saw the frenzied assailant lunge at the chef's throat with one knife and immediately hooked one arm around the assailant's knife-holding arm, pulling it back then grasping the assailant's shirt neck and pulling it back, screaming for help. Ryan meanwhile grabbed the assailant's free arm as the chef brought the assailant to the ground. The assailant kept up his stabbing attacks on the chef until Jai started kicking him in the head.

The boys' cries for help brought club patrons to the scene and the assailant was arrested by police and the wounded chef was evacuated to hospital.

BRONZE MEDAL

ANDEW PATRICK VIRTUE, police officer, aged 26 years, of Cloncurry, Qld, in going to the rescue of a boy from drowning in a stormwater drain at Cloncurry on 11 February 2009.

Following heavy rain and severe flooding Const Virtue attended an incident where a boy had been playing in a gutter near a stormwater drain when he was dragged under the road by the strong current.

A drain cover was removed and they saw the boy wedged between two drains. Const Virtue was lowered by another policeman by the legs down the 2m drain, grasped the boy in the knee-deep water and pulled him up to other police assisting at the time.

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT

JONATHAN RUSSEL DRAPES, aged 35 years, of East Brisbane, Qld, and

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT

JOHN FLETCHER, police constable, in going to the rescue of a woman intent on suicide from jumping off the Story Bridge, Brisbane, on 20 November 2008.

Const Fletcher responded to an emergency call that a woman was threatening to jump off the Story Bridge. When Const Fletcher was within 20m of the woman she became distressed and climbed over the railing.

Mr Drapes, at this time, rode past on his bicycle. He quickly got off his bicycle, leant over the railing and took hold of the woman by the arm and held onto her with a tight grip. Const Fletcher, was still several metres away and yelled out to Mr Drapes to hold onto the woman as best he could while she continued to struggle violently.

Const Fletcher then leant out over the railing and took the woman around the waist and both Mr Drapes and Const Fletcher managed to drag her back across the bridge railing to safety onto the road nearby.

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT

BRIAN ALLEN ROSE, hospital orderly, aged 51 years, of Mt Pleasant, Qld,

BRONZE MEDAL

RICHARD PHILIP WHATMAN, Police Sergeant, aged 51 years, of MacKay, Qld, and;

BRONZE MEDAL

TRENT CHRISTOPHER BIRTHISEL, Police constable, aged 24 years, of MacKay, in going to the rescue of a man from drowning in an attempted suicide in the Pioneer River, Mackay on 9 February 2009.

Mr Rose was working at the Mackay Base Hospital when a man entered the Accident and Emergency Section asking for a scalpel to commit suicide.

The man then left the hospital walking towards the Hospital Bridge and yelled out an obscenity to Sgt Whatman who was performing mobile patrols. Sgt Whatman stopped his car to speak to the man when he saw Mr Rose coming running from the hospital and told Sgt Whatman that the man wanted to commit suicide.

Sgt Whatman immediately called for assistance and drove after the man who was by now standing near the safety rail halfway along the bridge. As Sgt Whatman pulled up beside him the man stood on the safety rail and dived into the Pioneer River which was in flood and flowing swiftly.

Sgt Whatman ran to the water's edge, removed his utility belt and boots and swam out to the man who was by now some 100m downstream from the bridge. He appealed to the man to return to shore but was ignored. Sgt Whatman returned to shore as he was becoming tired.

Consts Birthisel arrived on the scene and he and Mr Rose entered the river and swam to the suicidal man who was now 200m downstream. He was submerging and re-appearing and gasping for air. Const Birthisel and Mr Rose took hold of the man and began to tow him towards the shore. After about 50m Mr Rose was tiring and left Const Birthisel to propel the man towards the shore.

When they were near the bank, Mr Rose and Sgt Whatman re-entered the river but were unable to remove the man from the water due to his size and the rugged terrain. The three men held him securely until the arrival of further help.

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT

FRANCIS WILLIAM FRY, government security officer, aged 53 years of Durack, Qld, in going to the rescue of a security guard being attacked by a woman armed with a syringe at Fortitude Valley, Qld on 14 May 2009.

At 3.20pm a security guard at a shopping plaza heard female voices shouting "Give it back, give it back" and saw two women chasing another woman. The guard gave chase and managed to catch the fleeing woman. The other two women caught up, with one shouting, "She stole my handbag". The alleged culprit began to assault the guard who gripped her wrist to restrain her and tried to call the police as the culprit tried to break free.

At this point Mr Fry arrived as the struggle continued and the woman spilled the contents of her bag on the ground, bent down, retrieved a syringe which had spilled from her bag, pointed the syringe at Mr Fry then at the guard and raised the syringe to stab the guard. Mr Fry then moved in, grabbed the woman's wrist, took the syringe out of her hand and threw it to a safe place. The police arrived and arrested the woman.

BRONZE MEDAL

MARITA-JANE HALLETT, aged 36 years, of Forest Hill, Qld, and;

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT

SHANE DOUGLAS HALLET, labourer, aged 35 years, of Forest Hill, in going to the rescue of a couple from drowning in floodwaters at Forest Hill on 20 November 2008.

At 7.30am Mr & Mrs Hallett heard a car driving down to a flooded road outside their property. The vehicle stalled then was swept into the floodwater. Mr Hallett rang the police while Mrs Hallett ran down to the creek where the car was already submerged. She saw the elderly male driver out in the middle of the 4m deep creek, jumped into the water, grabbed the man as he floated past and hooked him onto a tree.

Hearing that the driver's wife was still in the car Mrs Hallett left to bring back a tyre and rope which Mr Hallett swam out to the car, through barbed wire fences and foliage debris, but was unable to rescue the driver's wife.

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT

ROBERT FRANCIS FINLAY, Senior constable, of Burleigh Heads CIB, Qld, and;

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT

BLAIR THOMAS CASEY, Senior constable, of Burleigh Heads CIB, in going to the rescue of a potential suicide from self-immolation at Broadbeach, Qld on 10 January 2009.

At 11pm SCs Finlay and Casey responded to an urgent call to an incident at a service station where a young man had doused himself with petrol, was armed with a lighter and a short axe and was threatening suicide.

The two police officers arranged for the area to be cordoned off, the fuel pumps to be shut off and for the fuel station to be locked. The man continually threatened suicide, flicking his lighter and brandishing his axe while his position prevented any police approach from the flanks or rear.

For 45 minutes SCs Finlay and Casey negotiated with the agitated man until they were able to move in and restrain the man who was then evacuated for assessment.

BRONZE MEDAL

DAVID PINCHIN, aged 48 years, of Palm Beach, Qld, in going to the rescue of a woman and her three children from their burning house at Palm Beach, on 16 June 2009.

At 7.00am Mr Pinchin was walking his dog past a house when he observed smoke coming from the roof tiles. Mr Pinchin ran to the front door of the dwelling which was locked and began to knock and yell out to alert the occupants. A young boy unlocked the door and Mr Pinchin entered the residence and saw the lounge room well alight and that the door to the main bedroom was closed.

Mr Pinchin opened the door to the bedroom and saw a woman and her two other children asleep. He woke them up and assisted in getting them out of the house which was engulfed in a thick layer of smoke.

Mr Pinchin then tried to extinguish the fire by using a bucket and wet blanket but required the services of the fire brigade to extinguish it.

BRONZE MEDAL

JUSTIN LUKE ANDREWS, aged 17 years, of Wangan, Qld, in going to the rescue of a boy from drowning in the Josephine Creek, south of Miriwinni, Qld on 3 January 2009.

At about 2.00pm there were numerous people swimming at Josephine Falls swimming hole. It has a waterfall at the top and water runs over a big slippery rock which is used to slide down into the pool of water below.

A heavy downpour of rain had occurred in the ranges above depositing large amounts of water at the top of the creek. With the volume of water flowing down Josephine Creek, it caused conditions in the creek to turn from slow-flowing water and calm pools to extremely fast-flowing water, with a tall surge at the front, that also created strong under currents in the deeper pools.

A boy was walking back up to the top of the slide across some rocks and boulders when he was hit by a wave of brown water coming down the slide which was about 1m high and tumbling and bubbling and he and other swimmers were swept downstream over and between the rocks into the deeper pools.

He started to panic and scream, not being able to breathe properly when he saw his friend Mr Andrews coming over to help him. Mr Andrews picked him up in his arms and pushed him up onto a boulder and then climbed up with him.

There were two boys holding onto another boulder nearby when one of these boys lost his grip and yelled out to Mr Andrews for help. Mr Andrews tried to grab him but the boy slipped and was washed down the rapids and was rescued further downstream.

A rope was then thrown out to the stranded swimmers and Mr Andews tied a loop in the rope and put the loop diagonally around his friend's body and over his shoulder like a seat belt and was then pulled about 5m to safety. Mr Andrews stayed in the middle of the rapids as the water started to subside until SES and rescue crews arrived.

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT

ADRIAN MICHAEL WILLIAMS, aged 35 years, of Maryborough, Qld;

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT

DARREN JOHN SIMPSON, butcher, of Tinana, Qld;

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT

MARK ANTHONY STEFFEN, store manager, of Maryborough, and;

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT

DARREN VICTOR EVANS, real estate agent, Yengarie, Qld, in going to the protection of a man being held hostage by an assailant with a knife at Maryborough on 2 May 2007.

At 10.20am Mr Williams entered a grocery store at Tinana Shopping Centre and was confronted with a man holding a knife to the throat of a young male shop assistant. Mr Williams attempted to calm the offender who demanded that Mr Williams call the police. Mr Williams told the offender he didn't have a mobile phone and that he would go and call the police from somewhere nearby. He left the store and approached Mr Simpson who was working in his butcher shop and asked him to contact the police which he duly did.

Mr Williams then returned to the store at about the same time as the store manager, Mr Steffen came out of the cold room and also attempted to calm the offender to no avail. The offender then ordered the two men to link arms and form a shield so he could exit the store. The offender told the two men to walk forward out of the store and then to stop by a verandah post.

By this time Mr Simpson and Mr Evans had left their businesses to investigate and Mr Simpson tried to talk with the offender and tried to calm him down by assuring him he had called the police. The offender was not appeased and demanded that Mr Simpson come over to him or he would stab the hostage who was pleading with Mr Simpson to help him and both he and Mr Evans felt compelled to join the group or risk the shop assistant being stabbed.

As the men surrounded the offender and the hostage, a police car drove into the car park close to the group. The police officers got out of the car with one of the policeman with his hands initially up in the air gesturing in an open fashion towards the group and telling them all to calm down. The offender demanded that the police throw down their guns.

Suddenly the hostage started screaming out as the offender stabbed him several times in the back and neck. The surrounding group of six men broke and fled in all directions.

When the offender was about 5m from the police he was shot and died shortly afterwards.

The sales assistant made a complete recovery.

BRONZE MEDAL

RUSSELL PYERS, Pilot, EMQ, helicopter rescue unit, of Railway Estate, Qld;

BRONZE MEDAL

PHILLIP LIVINGSTONE, Crewman/winch operator, EMQ helicopter rescue unit, of Townsville, Qld

BRONZE MEDAL

MARK ANDREW BRYANT, Rescue crew officer, EMQ helicopter rescue unit, of Douglas, Qld, in going to the rescue of 37 passengers and crew of the twin-masted ketch "Romance" washed onto rocks at Cape Cove, off Hook Island, 100km NE of Mackay on 12 February 2008.

At about 7.30am the EMQ helicopter crewed by Messrs Pyers, Livingstone, Bryant and Dr Schliebs was deployed to the wrecked "Romance" and searched the scene where the sea state was 3-2m swells and winds blowing at 60-80kph. The current monsoon trough created at times a cloud base at 500 feet.

The twin masts of the ketch, which was wedged on jagged rocks and listing at a 45 degree angle were a hazard for winching operations so Mr Bryant was winched down on to the rocks to carry out an assessment from the ground. Mr Bryant climbed from the rocks onto the vessel, despite the known risk of falling between the vessel and rocks. He joined a rescue crewman from CQ Rescue and a police constable from Whitsunday Water Police in assisting the stranded passengers and crew.

It was decided that winching from the vessel, rather than trying to bring the 37 people by rope from the ketch to the rocks was the practical and safe rescue procedure, so they cut the rigging to minimize dangers in winching, briefed the 37 people on winching procedures and for the next 2.5 hours despatched the passengers, two at a time up to the two helicopters.

CQ Rescue helicopter retrieved 20 of the passengers and the crew and the EMQ helicopter rescued 17.

(Dr Schleibs is to receive her award at an investiture at Government House, Adelaide)

(Please note that the crew of the CQ Rescue helicopter were recognised for their bravery in 2008)