Recipients
MEDALS
AND CERTIFICATES OF MERIT
Awarded 1999-2000
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TIMOTHY DAVID CHAMPION, police constable, aged 29 years, of Swansea, Tas, and;
DONALD ARTHUR BONNER, police constable, of Swansea,
in going to the rescue of a husband
and wife who had been stabbed by their mentally disturbed son at Bicheno, Tas,
on 30th December 1998.
At about 7.10pm Consts Champion and Bonner arrived at the house of the mentally disturbed man to take him back to hospital. They saw the man leaving the house and when they tried to talk to him he produced a filleting knife with a 15cm long blade. The man ran down a pathway pursued by the policemen who sprayed him with capsicum spray but to no avail. As the policemen chased the man they saw the body of his father on the ground.
Const Bonner stopped to confirm that the father was dead. He then discovered the disturbed man’s mother locked in the bathroom. He applied first aid and called an ambulance. The mother had been stabbed and hit repeatedly with a walking stick.
Meanwhile Const Champion continued to follow the disturbed man into the bush, trying to console him. The man then reached a small clearing and stopped in a pool of water up to his knees. As Const Champion attempted to grab hold of the man’s right wrist, he lost his footing and fell into the pool and wrestled with the man who repeatedly stabbed him with the knife. The man also bit Const Champion repeatedly. Finally the man dropped the knife at which time Const Champion was able to restrain him and throw the knife away.
On hearing Const Champion’s cries for help Const Bonner came to his assistance and the man was handcuffed.
MATTHEW KENNETH PARKER, farmer, aged 32 years, of Tutye, Vic,
JOHN KENNARD BROWN, farmer, aged 75 years, of Tutye, and;
NORMAN SCOTT HARTMANN, pensioner, aged 43 years, of Colonel Light Gardens,
SA,
in going to the rescue of a man trapped in his crashed and burning truck on
the Mallee Highway, Tutye, on 18th November 1998.
At about 6.10pm Mr Parker was driving a prime mover towing a trailer and was going to turn left into his driveway to the farm. A large truck came over the crest behind him and failed to slow down. The truck ran into the back of the trailer which jack- knifed and landed on its side. Mr Parker climbed out the passenger door of his truck and after going up to the farmhouse to call for an ambulance, ran back to the scene of the accident.
Mr Hartmann came upon the collision, stopped his truck and also ran to the crashed truck. Messrs Parker and Hartmann then tried to open the driver’s door but it was jammed. They then tried to pull the driver out but his legs were trapped inside the crushed cabin.
A short time later the truck caught on fire and despite the efforts of Mr Hartmann with a fire extinguisher and Mr Parker trying to pry the door open with a jimmy bar, they were forced away from the truck by the flames and heat.
Mr Brown then arrived on the scene and he stood on some surrounding scrap metal and tried to pull the injured man from the truck. He was then forced back as the flames became more intense.
Unfortunately the truck driver died in the incident.
JOHN ERSKIN, aged 55 years, of Hawthorndene, SA, and;
IAN CAMPBELL, aged 43 years, of Mount Barker, SA,
in going to the rescue of a man drowning
at Mawson Lakes Boulevard, Mawson Lakes, SA, on 1st February 1999.
At
about 4pm a man fell from a bridge over the lake and panicked as he could not
swim, then fell unconscious. Messrs Erskin and Campbell both entered the
lake and duck-dived on two occasions before they eventually found the drowning
man who was not breathing and had a weak pulse. They dragged him to the bank
and later the man made a full recovery.
MARK ANTHONY FLESKENS, police officer, and;
JOHN GERARD ZADKOVICH, police officer,
in going to the rescue of a man trapped inside
his burning car at North Perth, WA, on 4th September 1999.
At approximately 11.00pm Snr Const Fleskens and Det I/C Const Zadkovich arrived at the scene of a burning car. The car was engulfed in smoke and flames were rapidly moving through the cabin and reaching nearby power-lines. Both policemen entered the front passenger side of the vehicle and pulled a man from the car.
Snr Const Fleskens then entered the burning car again as the driver said his wife was in the car. Snr Const Fleskens searched through the smoke- filled cabin but could find no one.
JOHN WILFRED THOMAS (dec), skipper, aged 39 years,
in going to the rescue of another man following an explosion from a refrigerator
unit on board a fishing boat
on 22nd November 1998.
At about 12.30pm a refrigeration mechanic arrived to fix a leaking freezer unit on the boat. He went into the forward hold to repair it with an oxy-acetylene torch. Mr Thomas at the time was half way up the ladder in the forward refrigeration hold when there was a loud explosion. Mr Thomas came up out of the hatch carrying the refrigeration mechanic who he lay on the deck. Unfortunately the refrigeration mechanic had died instantly.
Mr Thomas was badly burnt and blinded by the blast and died whilst on the way to hospital.
RAYMOND HOWARD ROBBINS, aged 53 years, of Imbil, Qld,
in going to the rescue of
a woman being attacked by a dog at Imbil on 29th April 1999.
At about 11.45am a woman decided to put her dog, a great dane/bull mastiff/ridgeback cross into the back of her utility as it was barking at someone who had driven onto her property. She slipped on a sack and fell under the dog whilst in the utility and it turned on her and started to bite and shake her arm.
Mr Robbins heard the woman screaming from his property across the road and he went to help her. By this stage the dog was biting and shaking the whole left side of the woman who was soaked in blood. Despite the woman’s warning not to get into the back of the utility, Mr Robbins jumped onto the tray of the utility and scooped the woman up and protected her by wrapping his arms around her. At the same time he shouldered the dog away and it fell out of the utility onto the ground. It then ran off snarling.
WAYNE BATES, aged 31 years, of Chadstone, Vic,
in going to the rescue of a man from his
burning home at Chadstone on 17th July 1998.
At 11pm Mr Bates was returning to his residence when he saw smoke coming from a nearby house. He went to the rear of the house and heard a person coughing. Mr Bates forced open the security door and crawled through dense smoke and located a man in a bedroom at the rear of the house. He then dragged the man from his bed and out of the house to safety.
JAMIE CHALKER, brevet sergeant, of NT, and;
PAUL BLACKBURN, police constable, of NT,
in going to the rescue of a man stranded in
the middle of the flood-swollen Wattie Creek, NT, on 21st November 1999.
At about 8.30am a man became stranded 50m from the creek bank in rapidly flowing flood waters. The creek at the time was about 100m wide. Mr George (see p?) entered the river and swam over to the man to try to keep him calm. Meanwhile Brevet Sgt Chalker and Const Blackburn made their way 100m upstream and swam into the creek. Brevet Sgt Chalker then swam to Mr George and the stranded man while Const Blackburn waited at a group of trees about 15m above where the two men were stranded. Neither Mr George nor the stranded man were able to swim back against the current.
Brevet Sgt Chalker then swam back to Const Blackburn. Const Blackburn then secured a rope to a tree and Brevet Sgt Chalker floated downstream to Mr George and the other man. Both stranded men then pulled themselves along the rope back to Const Blackburn. Brevet Sgt Chalker then joined them and they all made their way back to safety.
THONA DAWN COLEMAN, aged 67 years, of Bunbury, WA,
in going to the rescue of a
friend after she had slipped from some rocks while fishing at “Skippy Rock”,
south of
Augusta, WA on 11th November 1999.
While fishing from “Skippy Rock”, Mrs Coleman’s friend slipped on a rock and fell into the ocean. Mrs Coleman heard her cries for help and saw her struggling in the water about 3m below the rocks.
Mrs Coleman removed her windcheater and using it as a rope held it out towards her friend. Once her friend had grabbed hold of the windcheater and was able to gain a foothold upon the rocks, Mrs Coleman, over a period of some 20 minutes, was able to slowly pull the woman from the water.
RYAN CHEERS, aged 17 years, of Lakes Entrance, Vic,
in going to the rescue of a man trapped in his car which was sinking in deep
water in Cunningham Arm, Lakes Entrance on 14th March 1999.
At about 10.45am a man in his car accelerated over a concrete footpath and landed in approx 4m of water, some 5m from the edge of the concrete wall. The vehicle started to sink quickly.
A passerby, Mr Cheers, saw the incident and jumped in fully clothed. He managed to open the driver’s door against the water pressure and helped the elderly man out of the car before it was completely submerged.
PHILLIP ANTONY BRADLEY, staging technician, aged 35 years, of Bassendean,
WA,
in going to the rescue of a man from drowning in the Swan River at Bicton, WA
on 19th July
1999.
At about 11.00am a man fell from a jet ski which became water-logged. The water was extremely cold and the man started to get cramps. Mr Bradley was on the Point Walter Jetty at the time and saw that the man was in trouble. He dived into the water and swam 600-800m to the drowning man. He realised the water was very cold and a current was moving very fast down river, towards the ocean. Mr Bradley reached the drowning man after about 15 minutes and was very tired. Mr Bradley took the man by the right arm and started to sidestroke back to the jetty. A short time later the water police arrived to help both men.
ROBERT BRIAN FIELD, farmer and volunteer firefighter, aged 31 years,
of Hopetoun, WA,
in going to the rescue of a man being attacked by a swarm of bees near the Jerdacuttup
River, WA on 27th November 1999.
At about 8.00am Mr Field and three other fire volunteers were making a firebreak. One of the men bumped a rock with a 4wd loader and bees started to swarm out from beneath it. The man jumped off the loader and ran into the bush as the swarm of bees attacked him. Mr Field went to the aid of the man despite having an allergy to bee stings. Mr Field grabbed the man under the arms and helped him to run through the scrub for 100m until the bees disappeared. Mr Field suffered 50 bites and the other man 140-160 bites.
RYAN KEMP, plant operator, aged 26 years, of Mareeba, Qld,
in going to the rescue of a man who had been swept down the Baron
River at the Baron River Crossing, Mantaka, Qld, on 5th March 2000.
At about 1.40pm a man attempted to cross the Baron River Crossing and was washed off it. He was immediately swept down the river towards an area where there were a number of powerful vortex type swirling currents and undertows and was continually dragged under the water.
Mr Kemp saw the incident, entered the water and swam approx 20m to give the man assistance. The strong current carried both men rapidly downstream and the drowning man disappeared under the water before Mr Kemp could reach him.
JAMES FERGUS JOHN ANNAN, commercial fisherman, aged 32 years, of Dongara,WA,
in going to the rescue of a man attempting to commit suicide at Dongara on 19th
December, 1999.
At about 8.30am a man arrived at Mr Annan’s girlfriend’s house and requested two knives so he could kill a snake. The man was given two knives both of which had blades about 25cm long. The man, a stranger, then left.
The man then dropped to his knees in the yard. Mr Annan could see one knife handle visible on the ground and the other could be seen sticking out of the man’s stomach. The man was plunging the knife into his stomach. Mr Annan tried to take the knife from the man who ripped his hand across his own body and snapped the handle off the second knife. Mr Annan then bashed the handle out of his hand and rolled him onto his back. The man continued to struggle and started digging his hands into his stomach, trying to push the blades in further.
The man continued to struggle and finally got to his feet and grabbed a rock and said he was going to kill Mr Annan. Mr Annan knocked him back to the ground and twisted both of the man’s arms up behind his back and continued to put a towel onto the man’s stomach wound until the ambulance and police arrived.
ROBERT PAUL DANIELETTO, ambulance officer, aged 56 years, of Narangba, Qld,
and;
ROBERT EUGENE VAN DER HAM, ambulance officer, aged 55 years, of Kedron,
Qld,
in going to the rescue of three police officers who had been shot by a man at
Chermside
West, Qld on 1st May 2000.
At about 3.40pm three policemen were shot when a man poked the muzzle of a gun through the police car driver’s door and started shooting with an automatic or semi-automatic gun. He then fled the scene.
Within minutes of receiving a call that the police officers had been wounded, Messrs Danieletto and Van der Ham arrived on the scene. Despite the fact that the gunman was believed to still be in the vicinity, both ambulance officers administered medical help to the injured police officers while being encircled by other armed police.
Both ambulance officers were conspicuous under a streetlight and were not wearing bullet- proof vests.
PAUL
BRADLEY LOAKES,
deckhand, aged 21 years, of Morayfield, Qld,
in going to the
rescue of a woman hanging onto some trees in floodwaters at Moodlu, Qld, on
8th February 1999.
At about 7.00pm a woman attempted to cross a spillway in her car when she was swept into the river. She managed to escape from the car onto its roof and when it floated into some trees she grabbed the branches.
Mr Loakes was alerted to the incident and saw the woman hanging onto a branch about 40m from where he was standing. Mr Loakes then entered the river and allowed the current to take him to the stranded woman.
He reached the woman and after about 20 minutes a rope was thrown to them but it fell 10m short. Mr Loakes swam out to the rope and then swam back to the woman. He grabbed her around the waist and with the help of others at the water’s edge, they were both pulled to safety.
JAMES CHRISTOPHER HAWKINS, student, aged 20 years, of Carnegie, Vic,
in going to the rescue of a man whose car had plunged off a bridge and into
the Derwent River at Bridgewater, Tas, on 2nd February 1999.
At about 6pm as Mr Hawkins was driving across a bridge, a utility in front of him swerved then veered across to the right, breaking the railing of the bridge and falling into the water. The utility submerged immediately.
Mr Hawkins stopped his car and jumped approx 5m into the water to help the man. After confirming with the drowning man that there was no one else in the utility, Mr Hawkins swam, towing the injured man, 35m to the bank of the Western causeway. The water at the time was described as deep, cold and murky.
PETA MARIE STEPHEN (dec), store manager, aged 29 years, of Northam,
WA,
who lost her life in going to the rescue of her two year old daughter from a
burning building on 11th December 1997.
At about 2.45pm Mrs Stephen was working as store manager while her daughter was in a crèche/playroom at the rear of the store. An employee told Mrs Stephen he had discovered a flattened cardboard box that was on fire and that he had extinguished it. Shortly afterwards there was another report of a small fire at the rear of the store but Mrs Stephen was told this had also been extinguished.
Mrs Stephen then went to move her car which had been parked close to where the small fire had broken out. Her attention was then drawn to the fact that the rear of the store was on fire. Mrs Stephen immediately re-entered the store by way of the personnel door in an effort to save her daughter. She screamed out to another employee to help her but he was driven back by the fire which was rapidly engulfing the store.
Mrs Stephen grabbed her daughter and attempted to carry her to safety but was overwhelmed by the fumes and mother and daughter died in the fire.
ANDREW McCORMACK, motor trimmer, aged 32 years, of Mountain View, Vic,
in going to the rescue of a man from a crashed and burning aircraft at Mountain
View on 10th March 2000.
At about 2.10pm a pilot was crop- dusting when his aircraft crashed heavily into the side of a hill, landing on its belly.
Mr McCormack saw the crash from his house and ran about 250m to the site. He saw that the aircraft was on fire and the pilot was still in the cockpit. The pilot struggled out of the plane and fell to the ground. Mr McCormack ran to the pilot, grabbed him and extinguished the flames on his body. He then dragged the injured man some 40-60m up the hill away from the plane and stayed with him until further help arrived.
MATTHEW EDMUNDS, marine biologist, aged 31 years, of West Brunswick,
Vic,
in going to the rescue of a man trapped underneath an upturned boat at the entrance
to Anderson’s Inlet, Inverloch, Vic, on 16th January 2000.
At about 11am Dr Edmunds and three colleagues were conducting a marine survey from a boat and, due to poor visibility, were returning to shore when they saw another vessel hit by a 1.5m wave, flip backwards and capsize. They headed to the disabled craft and learned that a crewman was missing, trapped underneath the boat.
Dr Edmunds dived into the water to look for the remaining man. He disappeared under the water and re-appeared two minutes later requesting an air tank to refresh the stale air in the 15cm breathing cavity of the upturned vessel. After refreshing the air Dr Edmunds returned about three minutes later requesting a scuba unit which he then took underwater to the trapped man.
On re-surfacing again Dr Edmunds requested a full scuba unit and a knife for himself as he had to work under the water to untangle and free the trapped man.
After about 12 minutes Dr Edmunds surfaced safely with the man.
FELIX JULIFF, bottle shop assistant and musician, aged 22 years, of Alphington,
Vic,
in going to the rescue of a mother and a baby from an oncoming train at Nunawading,
Vic, on 16th May 2000.
At about 5.50pm Mr Juliff noticed a woman walk past the bottle shop where he worked sobbing and pushing a pram with a baby in it. He saw the woman take the baby from the pram and head towards the embankment near the railway line. He immediately became concerned about her behaviour, followed her down the embankment and asked her what she was doing. The woman told him to go away and continued walking until she was standing in the middle of the railway tracks.
Mr Juliff then heard a train’s whistle blow and saw it approaching from the city. The woman turned around and faced the train. Mr Juliff then ran onto the tracks, grabbed the woman in a bear hug, lifted her off the ground and swung her and the baby around off the tracks. They fell into some nearby grass as, seconds later, the train passed by.
DANIEL AARAN JONES, student, aged 25 years, of Reynella, SA,
in going to the rescue of a man who had jumped off the Port Noarlunga Jetty,
Port Noarlunga, SA, on 4th March 2000.
At about 12.25am Mr Jones was alerted to the fact that a man had jumped into the ocean after his dog had fallen in and was now having difficulty swimming back to the pier.
Mr Jones saw a dog about 3m north of the jetty in the water and a person further off, floating face down and motionless. Mr Jones stripped to his shorts and swam out to look for the drowning man. Mr Jones swam about 150-200m looking for the man but was unable to do so in the dark, rough water. There was a strong current running across the beach and after 15 minutes Mr Jones became extremely tired and swam back to the jetty.
KEITH HIBBINS (dec),
who lost his life while going to the rescue of his partner from being
assaulted in the Fitzroy Gardens, East Melbourne, Vic, on 25th April 1999.
At about 7.00pm Mr Hibbins and his partner were walking in the Fitzroy Gardens when they saw two men running and yelling out to each other. The men accosted Mr Hibbins and his partner, saying that they were looking for a man who had raped a woman. Both men spoke in aggressive tones and were intoxicated.
Mr Hibbins then said to his partner to run. They were then pursued by the two men. Mr Hibbins’ partner tripped and fell and had his face pushed down into the ground and was being punched and kicked and told that he was going to be killed.
Mr Hibbins came back to help his partner and told the two men to “leave him alone”. His partner managed to scramble to his feet and escaped running until he was able to flag down a passing car.
The two assailants then pursued Mr Hibbins who was easily caught due to significant disabilities from an injury several years earlier. The two assaulted him until he fell unconscious to the roadway.
Mr Hibbins died 10 days later in hospital. The two assailants were gaoled for manslaughter.
DAVID JOHN DOYLE, primary producer, aged 44 years, of Tallgaroopna, Vic,
in going to the rescue of a man from a crashed and burning car at Tallygaroopna
on 7th August 1999.
At about 4.15am a car collided with a concrete post of a bridge. Mr Doyle who was in bed at the time, heard the collision and ran to the scene of the accident. He heard an explosion and saw that a car had burst into flames.
The car was on its right side on the bitumen. Mr Doyle climbed in through the back window which was smashed. It was very dark and Mr Doyle started choking from the smoke and had to climb back out again.
He took a couple of deep breaths then went back into the car through the back window. By this stage the driver’s seat and head rest were on fire. Mr Doyle patted the head rest to put out the fire and then undid the man’s seat belt.
Mr Doyle dragged the driver through the car to the back window, his task being made all the more difficult by the head rests and baby seat. Once he reached the back window others helped to pull the driver from the car.
Shortly afterwards the car was engulfed in flames.
JOHN STUART BROWN, aged 21 years, of Surfers Paradise, Qld,
in going to he rescue of
a man drowning in the surf at Surfers Paradise on 18th February 1999.
At about 6.15pm Mr Brown noticed a man in the water waving his arms. Despite hazardous surf conditions and the presence of a severe rip, Mr Brown swam 80m to successful rescue the man.
Mr Brown then re-entered the water to provide further assistance to other swimmers caught in the rip. Mr Brown then became exhausted and had to be assisted from the water by lifesavers.
DENNIS MARCEL ROBBEMOND, sales manager, aged 42 years, of Brinsmead,
Qld,
in going to the rescue of a boy trapped in the flooded East Eudlo Creek Causeway,
Maroochydore, Qld, on 9th February 1999.
At about 5.30pm Mr Robbemond heard a loud banging at the front door of his office and saw a boy who was wet and distressed. The boy explained that his friend was stranded in the creek 250m from the front of the office.
Mr Robbemond started walking through the flooded waters so he could get upstream of the boy. He saw him about 100m downstream, lying on a boogie board and holding onto a stick of sugar cane.
Mr Robbemond headed out across the creek fighting a very strong current. As he was crossing the creek he saw large logs and debris continue to rush past him as well as snakes and numerous spiders.
Despite the strong current Mr Robbemond reached the boy, took hold of him and dragged him about 150m through the water onto land.
KENNETH CHRISTOPHER O’PHEE, factory worker, aged 29 years, of Kallangur,
Qld,
in going to the rescue of a child from a burning house at Kallangur on 28th
October 1998.
At about 5pm a woman was alerted by her daughter to a fire and saw that the lounge on the verandah was on fire. She tried to push the lounge down the steps but it was too hot. The woman then went inside to call the fire brigade then ran across the road to Mr O’Phee’s house for help.
Mr O’Phee asked where the daughter was but the mother did not know. He ran to the house where flames were then reaching the railing of the verandah and tried to play a hose on the fire but there was no water. He ran through the house and found the child in the main bedroom. He tried to take her out of the house via the front door but the heat and flames prevented him. He then went out the back door, handed the child to her mother and began using another hose on the fire until the Fire Brigade arrived.