Triple 0 Junior Heroes Josh Campbell (front) and Daniel Postema provided valuable information to police after they witnessed a man assault a woman in January. The young pair then raced to Daniel’s house to call the emergency number, and were this week rewarded for their initiative.JOSH Campbell and Daniel Postema were shaken when they saw a man assault a woman in Dandenong last January.
But the two 13-year-olds courageously observed the event and gathered information before dialing 000 and informing police.
While the boys haven’t been told the outcome of their call, Josh and Daniel were rewarded for their initiative with the Junior Triple 0 Hero Award by the Police and Emergency Services Minister, Tim Holding, this week.
Sharing the stage with legendary basketballer Andrew Gaze at this week’s award ceremony, the pair has been coming to terms with the newfound hero status.
“All my friends were going, ‘was that really you on the news?’,” Daniel said.
Daniel, from Noble Park, and Josh, from Dandenong North, met through Scouts meetings, and attribute their common sense under pressure to the teachings of their scout leaders.
“We were told in Scouts to look after people,” Josh said.
“The call-taker said we had a better explanation of details than adults.”
Following the ceremony at the Melbourne Convention Centre, Josh and Daniel received a tour of the emergency communications call centre and met their call-taker.
Mr Holding presented awards to a number of junior heroes and said he was impressed by the ability of children to dial 000 confidently and report information.
“Despite great pressure they remained composed and passed on vital, even life-saving information to emergency call- takers,” he said.
