By Cam Lucadou-Wells
A quick-thinking hero who pulled a dazed driver out of her burning vehicle in Dandenong South has been awarded a Commendation for Brave Conduct.
Chris Wilton, from Rowville, had been on his way to work about 6.20am on 3 September 2015 – “half asleep and needing coffee”.
When the mechanical engineer saw a multi-car crash on Dandenong Bypass near the Hammond Road intersection, things quickly went from “zero to 100”.
He spotted a woman, ‘Emily’, still in her car that had slammed into the back of another car and mounted the median strip.
“I saw flames coming out of the bonnet,” Mr Wilton said.
“I was yelling out of my window for her to get out of the car.”
Emily was shocked, frozen under an activated airbag as fire spread under the vehicle.
Mr Wilton tried to open the car door but it was jammed.
The car was in drive. Mr Wilton had the presence of mind to lean through the window to pull on the handbrake.
“Come on, we’ve got to get out of the car,” he urged the driver.
He managed to uncouple her seatbelt, grab her under her arms and lift her free of the car.
Minutes later, the car was engulfed in flames. Just before emergency services arrived on the scene.
Mr Wilton remembered there were a lot of cars around at the time. The drivers of the two other cars were standing on the other side of the bypass, having a chat.
“No one else was aware that Emily was in the car,” he said.
“I was trying to wave down work utes to put out the fire, but no one pulled over.”
Mr Wilton’s clear thinking may well have saved Emily’s life.
“As soon as I saw someone in the car, I didn’t have to think about it – I just acted.
“It was like I saw someone needed help. I’d hope it would be what someone else would have done in the same position.”
It turned out the crash had been caused by a large part falling from the back of a truck on the road. As far as Mr Wilton knows, the truck and its driver have not been identified.
Regardless, the event was perspective-changing for Mr Wilton.
“It just makes you think that anything can happen at any point.”
He’s kept in touch with Emily, checking on her welfare in the months after the crash, and they text each other on the rescue’s anniversary each year.
She nominated Mr Wilton for the bravery commendation.
“Speaking to her over the years, it’s just like I was in the right place at the right time.”
Mr Wilton was one of 46 people announced for Australian Bravery decorations this month.
Two bravery lists are recommended to the Governor-General by the Australian Bravery Decorations Council each year.
