7
December 2009
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ANNUAL BRAVERY AWARDS PRESENTATION
Twenty (20) men and women and children 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 10 December 2009
at Government House, Melbourne
at 11.00am
The Society awards –1 Posthumous Medals, 2 Silver Medals, 11 Bronze Medals and 6
Certificates of Merit - will be presented by the Governor of Victoria, Prof David de Kretser, AC.
The awards recognize rescues from:
an arrmed assailant
drowning at sea
a crashed and burning truck
a
burning house
being trampled to death by cattle
falling trees
electrocution on a work site
being trapped under an excavator
an oncoming train
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:
(See “Press Releases”)
THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY OF AUSTRALASIA
MEDALS AND CERTIFICATES OF MERIT
Awarded 2008-2009
TO RECEIVE THE BRONZE MEDAL:
ERICA ROADKNIGHT
in going to the rescue of a student from drowning at Little Waterloo Bay, Wilson’s Promontory,
Vic on 25 May 2006.
At 8.00am some students were at Little Waterloo Bay. Mr Traynor and Ms Roadknight, a
teacher and student teacher from another school group, saw that one of these students was in the
water and in difficulty.
Mr Traynor jumped into the water and managed to grab the boy by his T-shirt and pulled him
calmer water. He signalled to Ms Roadknight who jumped into the waves to help. She put her
arm under the boy while the waves continued to pound over them and helped to pull him to the
beach.
(Mr Traynor received his award at a previous investiture)
TO RECEIVE THE SILVER MEDAL:
ROBIN JOHNS
in going to the rescue of a man from electrocution at a building site at Merbein South, Vic on 9
July 2008.
At about 2.20pm a man was carrying out repairs to a hydraulic scissor lift at a building site when
the platform of the lift came into contact with 22,000 volt power lines causing the man to be
electrocuted and to be thrown back against the machine, remaining in contact with the current
continuing to electrocute the man and causing serious burns to his body.
Messrs Cohrs, Johns and Schmidt rushed to help the victim. Aware that the machine and the
victim were live with electrical current and the attendant risk of being electrocuted themselves,
they used a nearby large wooden pole and managed to lever the man away from the machine.
Mr Cohrs got a lifting sling out of the back of his truck, placed it around the man’s ankles and
they pulled the man to safety and tended to the man, fully aware of the great danger in which
they had placed themselves.
(Mr Schmidt and Mr Cohrs have already been presented with their awards)
TO RECEIVE THE CERTIFICATE OF MERIT:
BRUCE ANDERSON
and
STEFAN KOZLOWSKI
in going to the rescue of the driver of an overturned burning prime mover at Euroa, Vic on 2
June 2008.
At 9.30am a front tyre of a prime mover blew out, causing the driver to lose control of his
vehicle which rolled onto its passenger side and caught fire in an intense blaze.
Messrs Anderson and Kozlowski, travelling separately behind the truck, stopped and went to the
driver’s aid. The driver managed to clear the truck and fell down from the truck to the two men
who helped take him to safety as the truck became engulfed in flames.
TO RECEIVE THE BRONZE MEDAL:
ROBERT BRIGHT
in going to the rescue of a neighbouring farmer from being trampled to death by cattle at
Dumbalk, Vic on 24 April 2008.
At 11.00am a farmer was feeding his cattle and bent down to approach a calf to insert an ear
identification tag, when the mother charged him from the rear and threw him up in the air,
knocking him unconscious. The 30 other cattle weighing some 800kg each then went into a
frenzy, surrounded the farmer and started to trample him.
Mr Bright had arrived at the property on business, saw the farmer being tossed in the air, grabbed
a stick, ran 120m across a paddock, over two barbed wire fences and a creek bed and was able to
drive the cattle back.
The farmer was evacuated, battered and bruised to hospital for a week with facial injuries,
lacerations and bruises to his legs, arms and spine.
TO RECEIVE THE BRONZE MEDAL:
DION GREY
and
JOSHUA WILLIAM DISHON
in going to the rescue of a woman and her child being threatened by an armed sneak-thief at Box
Hill on 4 September 2008.
At about 10.20am a 90 years old woman had just withdrawn some money from an ATM when
she felt a tug on her right hand and saw that a man had stolen her handbag. She yelled for help
as the thief ran off.
Messrs Grey and Dishon heard the screams, saw the fleeing thief and gave chase. The thief
stopped to check the contents of the handbag as the two men approached. The offender then
produced a syringe, saying, “If you don’t stop following me, I’ll kill you”. The men, in fear,
backed off.
A car was stopped at red lights nearby. The thief opened the passenger door and climbed in,
confronted the woman driver with her baby in the back, produced the syringe, grabbed her left
knee and shouted, “Drive the car! Drive the car!”
Mr Grey stood in front of the car, telling the driver not to move off as Mr Dishon ran to the
driver’s door to help the driver as the thief reached across to try to push the accelerator with his
hands. Mr Dishon opened the driver’s door and kicked the lunging thief in the head then pulled
the driver out of the car to safety.
TO RECEIVE THE CERTIFICATE OF MERIT:
ALAN R MALM
in going to the rescue of an elderly man from drowning in Port Phillip Bay, Rosebud on 27 June
2008.
At 3.15pm Leading Senior Const Malm responded to the call of a man for help. On arrival, he
saw a motor boat some 80-100m off-shore with an elderly man clinging to the stern of the boat,
calling for help.
Leading Senior Const Malm swam out to the boat, climbed in and pulled the elderly man who
was suffering from hypothermia. The boat’s dinghy was partially submerged and Leading
Senior Const Malm was able to pull the dinghy up, empty it, help the man into the dinghy and
row to shore.
The water was rough with moderate to high winds and the water temperature was 12°C.
TO RECEIVE THE 2009 RUPERT WILKS TROPHY & BRONZE MEDAL:
ZOE MULLER
and
AIMEE MULLER
in going to the rescue of their father and partner, both of whom were struck by two falling trees
at Mariners Falls, Apollo Bay, Vic on 18 September 2008.
At 12.30pm Zoe and Aimee, with their father and partner walked to Mariners Falls on a cold and
windy day. Whilst at the gully there was a large cracking noise and two trees of 30-40cm in
diameter were blown over and fell some 20m onto their father and his partner. Their father
suffered severe head and chest injuries and was lying barely conscious face-down in a shallow
pool of water while the woman’s leg was pinned by one of the tree trunks.
Zoe and Aimee were able to turn their father over and drag him out of the water, enabling him to
breathe properly and then, with instructions from his partner, they ran back along the 2km track
to seek help at the nearest resident, who rang emergency services. Aimee stayed at the residence
while and Zoe and the man immediately returned with some first-aid equipment to the accident
site.
At the site they eventually managed to lever the fallen trunk off the woman’s leg and set about
administering first aid until the emergency services arrived.
TO RECEIVE THE BRONZE MEDAL:
DAVID THOMSON
in going to the rescue of a man trapped under an excavator in the Mordialloc Creek, Vic on 1
June 2009.
At 11.20am Mr Thomson who was working in his shop heard a loud crashing/splashing noise.
He looked over to the other side of the creek and noticed an excavator on its side. He saw that a
man was trapped underneath the excavator and he dived in and swam over to a pontoon which
was adjacent to the excavator.
Mr Thomson put his arms under the trapped man’s armpits and lifted him up so that his mouth
and nose were above the water. The trapped man started to panic as his leg was trapped under
the excavator and he was breathing in water. Mr Thomson tried to calm him and started yelling
to other people to go into his shop and get a tube to help the man breathe.
A woman grabbed a vacuum hose and it was brought to Mr Thomson via a passing boat. Mr
Thomson put the tube into the man’s mouth and started blowing into it to help him breathe.
The man then lost consciousness, went limp and slipped under the surface of the water. This
helped to release his trapped leg from the excavator pedals and he came up to the surface of the
water again.
Mr Thomson was helped by others on the pontoon to lift the man onto it as the ambulance
arrived.
TO RECEIVE THE BRONZE MEDAL:
PHILIP WEIGHT
TO RECEIVE THE CERTIFICATE OF MERIT:
WAYNE PATTISON
in going to the rescue of a suicidal woman from drowning in the surf at Portsea Back Beach, Vic
on 22 June 2009.
At about 9.30pm Leading Snr Const Pattison and Snr Const Weight on mobile patrol were
deployed to Portsea Back Beach to investigate a report of a woman intent on suicide. The
woman had 20kgs of weights strapped to her body and wrists. They located her by torchlight
and could see her standing at the water’s edge, then entering the surf and being washed back and
forth by the waves.
Snr Const Weight ran 50m across the beach to the water and waded in, fully clothed and
equipped, to waist-deep water, with waves breaking at 5-10 second intervals. He waded further
to grab the woman, now underwater and, with difficulty, unaware that she was weighted down,
started to drag her back to shore. Leading Snr Const Pattison then entered the water and helped
Snr Const Weight to bring the woman to safety.
TO BE AWARDED THE POSTHUMOUS AWARD:
THE LATE MR DARREN CHHUON
(to be received by his mother Ms Dany Dy)
TO RECEIVE THE BRONZE MEDAL:
JAMES CLARK
DANY MOHAMAD ELSAFIN
in going to the rescue of several swimmers at Edithvale Beach, Vic on 14 January 2009.
At about 3.30pm there were several groups of friends swimming 50-70m off-shore at Edithvale
Beach where the sea was choppy and there was a strong undertow running. Mr Chhuon was
swimming with friends when some of them started to get into difficulties as the waves became
larger and the current stronger. Mr Chhuon swam to their rescue and got one of his friends onto
his shoulders to keep him above water. A large wave hit and another friend was also in trouble
and Mr Chhuon tried to keep him above water as well until other help arrived. Mr Chhuon then
succumbed to the waves before he could be reached.
Mr Clark was swimming when he heard screams and yells, saw commotion in the water and
swam to help. He swam over to one struggling boy and brought him back to a sandbar.
Mr Elsafin was also swimming when he heard cries for help and swam to two children and put
one on his back and the other was clinging to his waist, dragging him down under the water in
the crashing waves. Slowly Mr Elsafin was able to bring the children to safety with the help of
others.
TO RECEIVE THE BRONZE MEDAL:
ROBERT HALL
in going to the rescue of a disabled man in a motorised wheelchair who fell onto the railway
tracks at Southern Cross Station, Melbourne on 28 June 2009.
Mr Hall was at Southern Cross Station waiting for a train to take him to the MCG when a man
lost control of his motorised wheelchair and toppled onto the tracks at platform 10. The chair
landed on its side and the man hit his head heavily.
Mr Hall, a former paramedic, jumped to the man’s aid while his friend dashed down the platform
to wave down an approaching train and the driver was able to stop the train.
Mr Hall had some difficulty in freeing the wheelchair as one of the wheels had become stuck
under the railway line. He then summoned other travellers to help life the injured man to safety.
TO RECEIVE THE SILVER MEDAL:
IAN ROSS ANTONOFF
in going to the rescue of a man from his burning house in Horsham on 18 May 2008
At about midnight Mr Antonoff looked out from his second-storey window and saw that his
neighbour’s house was on fire. He told his daughter to ring 000 then, dressed in pyjamas and
boots, ran some 75m to the burning house. He entered through the front door but smoke and heat
forced him to retreat. He yelled to his neighbour, without response, then tried again to enter but
was driven back. He kept calling out and eventually received some response from the tenant so,
in company with another neighbour, Mr Jorgensen both men entered the house a third time and
found the occupant in the lounge room, incoherent and disorientated. At this point the house was
engulfed in fire with the roof collapsing around them. Mr Antonoff and Mr Jorgensen grasped
the tenant and led him out to safety.
( Mr Jorgensen was unable to attend this investiture)
TO RECEIVE THE CERTIFICATE OF MERIT:
JANET MOLONEY
and
LYNNE NICOLSON
in going to the rescue of a man from drowning at Lorne, Vic on 10 January 2009.
Ms Moloney had swum about 1km in the “Pier to Pub” 1.2km swim when she saw a man,
unconscious, on the sea floor. She dived down and, with some difficulty, brought the heavily
built man to the surface and tried to keep his head above water and to clear his airway.
She was assisted by Ms Nicolson while other competitors swam past, around and at times over
them, oblivious to the rescue attempt.
Lifesavers responded to the signals for help and brought the distressed man to shore. Regrettably
the man died two days later.
NEWS 
