Recipients

MEDALS AND CERTIFICATES OF MERIT

 Awarded 2001-2002

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DANIEL CHE LI CHENG, jeweller, aged 30 years, of Winthrop, WA,

in going to the rescue of a woman from being burnt, at Karrinyup, WA on 15 August 2001.

At 3.20pm a woman working in Mr Cheng's jewellery shop, leant over a Bunsen burner used for melting metals when suddenly her upper body clothing and longer hair caught on fire. Immediately Mr Cheng, wearing a woollen jumper, hugged the woman against his own body and quickly smothered the flames.

ROBERT BLAIR STEWART, police officer, aged 40 years, of West Croydon, SA,

in going to the rescue of a child from a burning house at Croydon Park, SA on 17 April 2001.

At 8.30am police were notified of a house fire. The fire was deep-seated with flames leaping from the roof and windows and a large amount of smoke surrounded the house.

Messrs King and Rowe (see Letters of Commendation), who worked in an office opposite the burning house, had seen the house alight, rushed across the street, smashed a bedroom window and lifted a child to safety.

When Snr Const Stewart arrived at the scene he was confronted by a very distressed woman who told him that one of her children was still inside the burning house.

Snr Const Stewart climbed through a window in search of the remaining child. Due to the dense smoke he had to come twice to the broken window for air before he eventually found the infant and handed the child, unharmed to others.

BILLY BOSWOOD, airport safety officer, aged 46 years, of Seven Mile Beach, Tas,

in going to the rescue of a semi-conscious man in his burning car at Seven Mile Beach on 27 December 1998.

At about 2.45am Mr Boswood was woken by a noise in the street. He saw his neighbour's car with its lights on, engine running and with flames coming from its rear. Coming closer, he saw his neighbour slumped over the steering wheel and that the interior of the car was engulfed in smoke. He opened the door, pulled the man out of the car and with the help of Mr Godfrey (see Letters of Commendation), carried him clear of the fire and administered first aid.

ADRIAN JAMES BROWN (dec), aged 24 years, of Scottsdale, Tas, and;

BRONZE MEDAL - 10644

PAMELA JANE ROLES, of Scottsdale,

in going to the rescue of two of Mr Brown's brothers from drowning at South Croppies Beach, Waterhouse, Tas on 27 December 1998.

At about 5.00pm Mr Brown's two brothers and another friend decided to take a net out into the water for some drag net fishing. One of Mr Brown's brothers could feel himself being pulled out into deeper water and he yelled to the other two to let go of the net. The friend then swam to shore. Mr Brown then swam out about 150m to his two brothers and helped one of them to reach some rocks. He rested for a short time then went back into the water to help the other brother who was about 20m away. After swimming about 7m he called that he was tiring and was having difficulty in breathing. He started swimming back towards the rocks and was about 3m away when he was pulled under the water by the undertow for about 3-4 seconds.

Ms Roles then entered the water and swam out to Mr Brown who was floating face down in the water. She attempted CPR which was made difficult due to the sea conditions. The brother who had still been in the water reached Ms Roles and Mr Brown. Ms Roles told him to swim across the current to get to the rocks which he did. Ms Roles and Mr Brown were then caught in the current. Ms Roles had been supporting Mr Brown for about 30 minutes and realised that he had died. As she was exhausted she let him go and swam back to shore.

Weather conditions at the time were described as poor. There was a strong 20-30 knot northwesterly wind blowing and a 3-4m surf.

BORIS KIRKOVSKI, aged 46 years, of Mill Park, Vic

in going to the rescue of a man being attacked by two dogs on 19 February 2001 at Mill Park.

At about 9.00am a man who was jogging alongside the Darebin Creek was attacked by two Anatolian Shepherd dogs who had escaped from their owner's yard. They were large dogs who stood over 180cm when standing on their hind legs.

The man tried to punch and kick the dogs to no avail and was eventually knocked to the ground. He was then savaged and sustained serious wounds.

Mr Kirkovski was visiting a neighbour when he heard someone calling for help and saw over the fence the dogs attacking a man. Mr Kirkovski grabbed a broom and ran out the back gate screaming at the dogs to get away. Mr Kirkovski then placed himself between the injured man and the dogs and forced them away with the broomstick.

CALLUM NICHOLAS GILLMAN, of Karana Downs, Qld,

in going to the rescue of a friend from drowning whilst snorkelling for abalone at Skeleton Bay, St Helens, Tasmania on 17 March 2001.

Mr Gillman and a friend had been snorkelling for about 7 minutes in icy water when the friend became hypothermic and struggled to breathe. Both men attempted to get back to shore via the rocky shoreline but were unable to, due to the rough sea conditions. They were buffeted against the rocks and had to swim approximately 50m off shore. The friend struggled further and tried to grab Mr Gillman, dragging him under water. Mr Gillman pushed the man away who began to sink under water, unconscious. Mr Gillman tried to pull his friend to the surface but became entangled in seaweed. Once he had freed himself from the seaweed Mr Gillman towed the unconscious man to an area where with the assistance of others he was able to remove him from the water.

His friend had no pulse, was foaming around the mouth and his face and lips were blue. Mr Gillman performed CPR and his friend started shallow unassisted breathing.

ROBERT JAMES STEGGALL, of Caloundra, Qld,

in going to the rescue of a Year 8 high school student from drowning in the surf at Moffat Beach on 4 September 2000.

As night was falling, Mr Steggall with other parents and teachers, attended an end-of-season barbecue for the Year 8 Caloundra High School Rugby League team. The boys were playing football on the beach when the ball went into the water. Two boys went in waist-deep to retrieve the ball but were suddenly and quickly swept out past the breakers by a strong rip.

One of the boys ran to tell Mr Steggall of the two boys being swept away. Mr Steggall immediately ran to the surf, stripped to his underwear and swam some 200m through the surf in the gathering darkness. He found one boy and swam him across the rip and brought him to shore, the whole rescue taking some 30 minutes. The other lad, meanwhile, had been able to make his own way to safety.

MARK GERARD MULLINS, registered nurse, aged 45 years, of Nauiyu, Daly River, NT,

in going to the rescue of a woman clinging to a communications tower at Nauiyu Nanbiyu Community, Daly River on 20 June 1999.

At 5pm Mr Mullins was notified that a woman had climbed the main communications tower. The tower holds two large dish antennae and is at least 35m high. The woman was clinging to the lower dish about 25m above the ground.

Mr Mullins climbed up to the woman without any safety equipment and tried to talk her into coming down. The woman then fell off the bracket she had been clinging to and Mr Mullins reached out and managed to catch her in mid-air and swung her onto the main tower beside him.

Mr Mullins managed to climb down slowly hanging onto the woman to a point level with the top of the enclosure around the base where he was helped by others to bring the woman to safety.

SANDRO De MARIA, construction worker, aged 37 years, of Reservoir, Vic, and;

BRONZE MEDAL - 10651

TIMOTHY JAMES ANDERSON, aged 31 years, of Upper Beaconsfield, Vic,

in going to the rescue of a woman at the Fertility Control Clinic, East Melbourne from an armed assailant on 16 July 2001.

At about 10.10am Mr De Maria left his partner at the Fertility Control Clinic to go and retrieve something from his car. As he returned to the clinic he saw a bearded man just inside the front door who was having a conversation with a security guard.

Mr De Maria walked passed both of them and then heard a loud bang and saw the bearded man holding a rifle to his shoulder in the standard firing position. The man lowered the weapon to his hips and slowly turned to level the barrel at Mr De Maria's partner's chest. Mr De Maria lunged at the man and grabbed the barrel with two hands. As the two men struggled a second round was fired, this time into the ceiling. Mr De Maria wrestled with the gunman, noticing the security guard slumped on the floor.

Mr Anderson had been sitting in the waiting room when he heard the shot gun, went to investigate, saw the struggle with the bearded man holding a weapon and went to help Mr De Maria subdue the gunman.

Mr Cassar (see Letters of Commendation) was also in the waiting room at the time. He followed Mr Anderson into the reception area, saw the three men struggling and saw a rifle lying on the floor. He picked it up and ran out the back door to ring for the police.

Sadly, the security guard was killed in the incident.

NOEL PARSONS, of Rainbow, Vic,

in going to the rescue of twelve school boys from drowning at Rocklands Reservoir in late April 1990.

At about 12.30pm Mr Parsons and his wife were camping at Rocklands Reservoir and decided not to go onto the water as the waves were 60cm high with white caps.

Some teachers and boys arrived at the reservoir and launched kayaks into the water. Soon the kayaks started to capsize and the boys were clinging to dead trees in the water.

Mr Parsons took his aluminium dinghy out into the water for several trips to rescue the boys, some of whom suffered from mild hypothermia.

STEVEN PETER BAGULEY, aged 41 years, of Broome, WA,

in going to the rescue of a child from a burning storeroom at Broome on 2 September 2001.

At about 12.45pm Mr Baguley was alerted to a fire in a storeroom attached to a neighbour's house and was told that a child was in the storeroom, screaming.

Mr Baguley immediately ran to the storeroom where flames were visible and the smoke was dense. After some searching he found the youngster hidden behind some timber and brought him to safety. Mr Baguley was then told that the boy's twin sister may also be in the storeroom so he re-entered the smoke-filled room but found no-one.

As he emerged from the storeroom he learned that the sister was safe elsewhere.

The little boy was evacuated to hospital with burns to 40% of his body. Mr Baguley suffered minor burns.

PHILLIP GEORGE RAYNER, aged 50 years, of East Risdon,

in going to the rescue of a baby trapped in a partly submerged car in the Derwent River, at East Risdon on 26 November 2001.

A woman with her baby strapped in the back seat, parked her vehicle, left the motor running, the handbrake on and the windows up while she momentarily left the vehicle to deliver some mail. Immediately the vehicle started rolling down a roadway and over a small embankment before plunging into the cold Derwent River. Upon impact the vehicle was completely submerged but then bobbed up in the water, due to the air pressure inside the vehicle cabin.

Mr Rayner was alerted to the woman's screams for help and immediately drove his own vehicle to the river's edge. He then leapt into the water and swam to the vehicle containing the baby. He managed to open the passenger's door despite the cabin compartment being half filled with water which was swirling around the baby's legs. He unstrapped the baby restraint and removed the baby from the vehicle and brought him to safety just before the car was totally submerged.

ROSS WOODWARD WEAVER, student, aged 17 years, of Darlington, WA, and;

SILVER MEDAL - 10657

TRENT ALLEN GARDNER, student, aged 17 years, of Swan View, WA,

in going to the rescue of four other people from drowning by swimming through rough seas for two hours to find help for the rest of the party clinging to a capsized boat off Wedge Island, via Lancelin, WA, on 1 October 2000.

At about 11.30am Mr Weaver and Mr Gardner were with a group of people fishing offshore from Wedge Island in a 6m cuddy cabin boat. It was decided to finish fishing and return to the settlement at Wedge Island. About 3km from the settlement the motor started to run roughly then stopped. A short time later a 2m wave slewed the boat around and capsized it. All persons on board ended up clinging to the hull.

Attempts by Mr Gardner to dive into the hull to retrieve life jackets and flares were unsuccessful as they were jammed in the front section of the boat.

Mr Gardner decided he would swim to shore to get help as the overturned boat was slowing sinking. Mr Weaver volunteered to accompany him and they set off into a choppy sea and an increasing sea breeze.

They eventually reached the shore some 8-9kms north of the settlement suffering from exhaustion and the cold. The alarm was raised and a rescue organised for the four remaining people.

Despite being exhausted from his long swim Mr Gardner went back to the scene in a 3m aluminium dinghy to help. By the time the four people were rescued the overturned boat was almost totally submerged with only a small portion of the bow left above the water.

Both Messrs Gardner and Weaver attempted to swim through the cold rough seas knowing that their efforts would be made no easier by a strong sea breeze, with the possibility of cramp, hypothermia, possible adverse currents and the knowledge that sharks inhabited the area.

CHARLES CARMEL ABELA (dec), aged 56 years,

who lost his life in going to the rescue of his daughter from drowning at Yallingup Beach, Yallingup, WA, on 18 December 2000.

At about 1.30pm Mr Abela's daughter entered the water for a swim with her uncle. The pair ventured into the open water where the waves were breaking onto the beach. During this time a rip developed and dragged Mr Abela's daughter out in the breaking waves. Her uncle tried to hold onto her unsuccessfully and due to the dangerous current had to return to shore.

Mr Abela, alerted to his daughter's cries for help entered the water and swam out to her where they remained together in the shore break. Mr Abela tried to grab hold of his daughter and push her to shore but the undertow was too strong.

Another man swam out and managed to tow the daughter safely to shore and then re-entered the water to look for Mr Abela but became exhausted and returned to the shore.

Mr Abela was found some 30 minutes later and despite CPR did not respond.

At the time there was a large ocean swell running, with the shore break measuring 2-3m in size.

BRENTON CHARLES CURNOW, aged 35 years, of Port Pirie, SA,

in going to the rescue of two men from their burning flats at Port Pirie on 25 July 2001.

At abut 10.50pm Mr Curnow saw smoke coming from a property one block away. He drove to the source of the smoke and saw that a unit was on fire.

Mr Curnow could see that the front door was open but the security door was locked. He saw an old man standing about 2m inside the front door. Mr Curnow screamed at the old man to unlock the door but the man seemed disoriented. Mr Curnow kicked at the security door several times and then ripped the mesh from the frame. The heat and smoke were so intense that it took him three attempts to find and grab hold of the old man and carry him away from the fire. There were oxygen cylinders in the lounge room which if they had exploded, would have demolished the front of the unit.

Together with police Mr Curnow then went to the adjoining unit where they saw a man lying on his bed. They started banging on the window to alert him to the fire. The man got up and tried to get to his front door. The police and Mr Curnow yelled at him to come to the window because his verandah was on fire. They eventually removed the window screen, forced the window open and Mr Curnow helped to pull the man through the window to safety.

ELIZABETH ANNE DAVIDSON, registered nurse, aged 46 years, of Singleton, WA, and;

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT - 10661

KYLE JOHN DREW, parts interpreter, aged 23 years, of Singleton,

in going to the rescue of two boys and their grandfather from drowning at Singleton Beach, Singleton on 27 March 2001

PETER ERIC PRICE (dec), retired, aged 63 years, of Singleton,

in going to the rescue of his two grandsons from drowning at Singleton Beach, Singleton, on 27 March 2001.

At about 3.30pm Mrs Davidson was walking along Singleton Beach and noticed two boys swimming about 20m from shore. When she next looked up she saw an older man (Mr Price) run down to the water's edge and start waving frantically with his hands before entering the water. Mrs Davidson immediately ran some 200m to where the man had been.

On arrival she saw that Mr Price had entered the water which was now up to his neck. The two young boys were caught in the rip and had been drawn further out to sea. The youngest boy was about 30m out to sea. Despite her awareness of the presence of the rip and its undertow, Mrs Davidson immediately entered the water and swam out to the youngest boy. She took hold of him and he vomited over her. She then returned to the beach with him and calmed him down.

Mrs Davidson then re-entered the water and swam out about 50m to the older boy who fought her and cried out, "I want to get to Grandad"! She shouted at the boy to calm him down and assisted him in swimming back to the beach by swimming at an angle to the rip.

Mrs Davidson then ran south along the beach to where she could see Mr Price who, by this time, was about 100m out on the southern side of the rip. She entered the water for a third time and started swimming towards Mr Price. She became aware that Mr Drew had also entered the water to try and rescue Mr Price.

Mrs Davidson continued swimming through the rip towards Mr Price's last sighted location, feeling the strong undercurrent from the time she entered the water. Mr Drew approached her and guided her to Mr Price who was about 50m from shore. Mr Price was face down in the water and Mrs Davidson immediately turned him onto his back and attempted air resuscitation. With Mr Drew's assistance, they brought Mr Price to shore using a sidestroke action.

Mrs Davidson commenced CPR on Mr Price assisted by Mr Drew. Unfortunately her efforts and those of the ambulance officers who arrived 20 minutes later were unsuccessful and Mr Price was unable to be revived.

BARRY DAWSON, of Vic

Four parachutists were practising as a team for a skydiving competition. The aircraft climbed to 14,000 ft with the team of four parachutists, their cameraman, six other parachutists and the pilot, Mr Dawson.

As the team exited the aircraft, the middle parachutist's reserve parachute's pilot chute deployed. Due to the bent-over position of that parachutist, the action of the ejector spring in the pilot chute pushed the chute upwards and over the horizontal stabiliser of the aircraft, pulling the reserve canopy with it. The parachutist passed below the horizontal stabiliser resulting in the reserve parachute risers and lines tangling around the left elevator and horizontal stabiliser. Eleven second later, the tail separated from the aircraft and the left elevator and the parachutist separated from the tail. The parachutist plunged to the ground with the reserve and main parachutes entangled and landed 800m west of the drop zone landing strip. He was fatally injured.

Immediately the tail separated, the aircraft entered a steep, nose-down spiral descent. The pilot instructed the remaining parachutists to abandon the aircraft. The last one left the aircraft before it descended through 9,000 ft. Mr Dawson shut down the fuel pumps, the engine and with one hand on the control column, calling "Mayday, mayday, mayday", he unbuckled his seatbelt and brought up his left leg to push off the instrument panel. However as soon as he let go of the controls the plane started spinning and the G-forces slammed him face first to the floor, between the seats. Due to the G-forces the exit door had closed.

Mr Dawson hauled himself along the floor of the plane using the harness seatbelts as a hand grip. With some difficulty he was able to open the exit door a small way. He turned onto his back, and squeezed his way out of the plane, head first. The plane was still spinning, falling and gaining speed. He gave a final heave and slipped out of the plane at about 1,000 feet to land safely.

All other parachutists and the cameraman were uninjured.

GREG CARSON, commercial cleaner, aged 38 years, of Coolum Beach, Qld

Mr Carson and his family were on the beach when he noticed five young men having difficulties in the surf. Mr Carson borrowed a boogie board from someone on the beach and set off into the surf to rescue the young men.

One man made it back to shore by himself. After checking on the closest two men who also made it back to shore, he set out to rescue the other two, who by now were well caught in the rip and some 500m from shore. When he got to them he gave the board to one of the men for support and swam to the other one who appeared to have stopped breathing. Mr Carson immediately started mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, managing to return to the boogie board where he continued giving mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, until he was able to attract a surf board rider who assisted them all to the beach.

Conditions at the time were described as a moderate surf of 1-2m spilling waves and a travelling rip current. The tide was rising and the winds were described as moderate.

ANTONY LEE SCOBIE, pensioner, aged 64 years, of Otago Bay, Tas,

in going to the rescue of a man from drowning in the Derwent River, Berriedale, on 5 January 2002.

At about 4.20pm a man was paddling his canoe on the Derwent River near Berriedale when it capsized. He attempted to right his canoe without success and became tired trying to battle the currents and winds to get back to shore.

Mr Scobie could see the man was in distress from his home so he put his 3m wooden dinghy into the water and began rowing in the direction of the canoe.

Enduring strong winds and currents, Mr Scobie managed to reach the man who by this time was physically drained and unable to pull himself into the dinghy. He released his hold on the canoe and held onto the stern of the dinghy. Mr Scobie then started to head back to shore some 300m away with the man in tow.

EDWARD GEORGE QUINN, aged 64 years, of Howrah, Tas,

in going to the rescue of a woman trapped in a crashed and burning van on the Tasman Highway about 8km north of Swansea, Tas on 6 April 2001.

At about 4.40pm a woman was driving her van in a northerly direction when it veered into the gravel on the left hand side of the road and continued on for approximately 40m along the culvert before colliding with a cement drain that went under a driveway. Flames started to appear from the area of the engine and through the windscreen.

Mr Quinn saw the crashed and burning van ahead of him, stopped and saw a woman inside screaming. Mr Quinn managed to force the driver's door open, lent across, released the seat belt and dragged the woman away from the burning van.

Minutes later the van was engulfed in flames.

Mr Quinn received a superficial burn to his right leg and his hair and eyebrows were considerably burnt. The driver required surgery for facial injuries.

LETTERS OF COMMENDATION

Richard Stephen KING (See Case No 10638)
Andrew Mark ROWE ( See Case No 10638)
Stephen Ralph GODFREY (See Case No 10641)
Brett Stephen CASSAR (See Case Nos 10650 & 10651)
Shane STAMOS
Neil Martin WHEAT