By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
IAN Atkinson was one of the unsung heroes in the rescue of a stricken train driver soon after a fatal level crossing smash in Dandenong South on Saturday.
He was part of about 20 impromptu rescuers who ran to the aid of victims after the smash between a Metro train and a prime-mover laden with a trailer of vegetables at the Abbotts Road level crossing.
SES and CFA crews combed the train wreckage several times in vain efforts to find the driver Trevor King, but it was Atkinson who spotted the driver’s foot ‘‘twitching’’ underneath a mountain of potatoes and debris in the derailed front carriage.
‘‘It took us a while to recognise the front carriage. There was no front left on it. The metal was all buckled.
‘‘No one had found him. They went clean down one side [of the train] and went down the other, but we knew that he had to be close.’’
SEE: ‘I can’t explain the horror of it all’
SEE: Truck appeared to crash into gates.
CLICK HERE for our gallery showing cranes clearing the tracks.
CLICK HERE for our gallery of the tragic aftermath.
CLICK HERE for our gallery from Saturday night.
CLICK HERE for more images from the crash site.
One of the rescuers Mick McGuigan had scrambled into the drivers cabin through a sidewindow and could see no sign of people among the rubble.
Then Atkinson spotted King’s foot. Buried under debris and sheeting, the driver was still seated in his chair.
McGuigan wrapped his own T-shirt to quell the bleeding from King’s head. King was later stretchered about 200 metres along the railway line to an awaiting ambulance.
This morning, the driver remained in a critical but stable condition in The Alfred hospital. He reportedly had extensive injuries, including broken ribs and serious head trauma.
Atkinson was ‘‘stoked’’ King had survived the horrific impact. ‘‘He was in a real mess. I’m surprised with where he is and that he’s alive.’’
At the time of the collision, Anderson was doing his normal sales work in a business in Abbotts Road’s burgeoning industrial estate.
When he had heard the ‘‘almighty boom’’ of the collision, Atkinson said he just ran on instinct and adrenalin. ‘‘I said to the boss ‘I’m off’ and I just took off.’’
The humble rescuer has shunned approaches for at least one TV interview and press photographs.
‘‘I’m not a hero or nothing. Your instinct just tells you to do it.’’
