THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY OF AUSTRALASIA BRAVERY AWARDS PRESENTATION

THE ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY OF AUSTRALASIA BRAVERY AWARDS PRESENTATION

One Silver Medal, three Bronze Medals and two Certificates of Merit recognize:

• The rescue of two men from their sunken boat at Venus Bay on 6 April 2012
• The rescue of two men from drowning at Christies Beach on 27 January 2013
• The apprehension of an armed assailant with a knife at Ascot Vale, Vic on 29 September 2008

Details of the rescues are attached.

Contact: Sue Cutler (Secretary) 03 9125 4408
Or visit our Web Site: www.rhsa.org.au (See “Press Releases”)

Note: : The Royal Humane Society of Australasia, formed in 1874, is concerned with giving public recognition to acts of bravery by making awards to those who risk their own lives to save the lives of others.

Over 8,360 awards have been made in the Society’s 141 years’ history.

ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY OF AUSTRALASIA

CITATIONS FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIAN RECIPIENTS

SILVER MEDAL
MARK ANTON KLANTE, of Wudinna, SA

BRONZE MEDAL
TRISTAN DION WATERS, of Wudinna

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT
DWAYNE ASHLEY POVEY, geologist, of Port Lincoln, SA,

in going to the rescue of a two men from their sunken boat at Venus Bay, SA on 6 April 2012.

At 8.40am Messrs Waters, Hissey, Povey and Bell were preparing to go fishing in a 6.5m aluminium fishing boat when they were alerted that two people were missing in the water from a capsized boat in the entrance of Venus Bay.

They started to search the water with Mr Hissey driving the boat. The sea was extremely rough and waves at the entrance to the bay were 4-5m and the wind was blowing from the south west at an estimated speed of 50-70kmh.

They saw a man floating face down in the water about 100m from nearby cliffs but were unable to get the boat close to him because the waves were too large near the headland.

Mr Klante was alerted to the situation whilst on the South Head cliff and saw the man floating in the water. Mr Klante climbed down the cliff and swam out to the man and brought him around the point into a more sheltered area which allowed the four men on the boat to get within 30m of their location.

Mr Waters donned a wetsuit and fins and tied a rope to his upper arm with a buoy attached and swam about 50m to Mr Klante and the drowning man.

Mr Waters swam back to the boat holding onto the man and with the assistance of Messrs Hissey, Povey and Bell who pulled them back with the rope. Once they got close to the boat Mr Hissey jumped into the water to help pull the drowning man onto the boat.

Meanwhile, Mr Klante swam back to shore by himself.

Mr Hissey powered the boat back towards the boat ramp while Messrs Povey and Bell commenced CPR but sadly the man was not able to be revived.

(Mr Bell will be presented with his award at investiture in Brisbane and Mr Hissey was unable to attend the investiture)

---

BRONZE MEDAL
CHRISTOPHER ALAN HALE, of Hackham West, SA

BRONZE MEDAL
RICHARD JOHN TICKNER, farmer, of Warracknabeal, Vic, in going to the rescue of two men who had fallen out of a boat at Christies Beach, SA on 27 January 2013.

At about 6.00pm two men launched a 3m fibre glass fishing boat into the water. The driver steered the boat at a 25 degree angle to the waves and as he pulled right a wave struck the boat side on and flung both men out of the boat and into the sea.

The boat was subsequently washed back onto Christies Beach and people including Messrs Tickner and Hale gathered around it. Mr Tickner thought he could hear someone calling for help so he and Mr Hale decided to take the boat back out into the sea to look for anyone who may have fallen out of it.

Both men felt the boat was not very stable and so Mr Tickner drove the boat very slowly (4-5 knots) 200-300m from shore towards where he could hear someone calling out. They saw a man waving his hand and so they drove the boat straight to him.

Messrs Hale and Tickner manoeuvred the man to the back of the boat and managed to help him from the water into the rear of the boat with some difficulty as he weighed between 90-100kg. The man was totally exhausted and lay in the bottom of the boat semi-conscious.

Mr Tickner returned to the driver’s seat and whilst going back to the boat ramp the rescued man told them that his father-in-law was still out in the water. After dropping the man off at the boat ramp Messrs Tickner and Hale went out into the sea to look for the missing man. They continued to circle around where they had picked up the first man and then moved further afield looking for the missing man for about an hour.

They then heard the rescue helicopter above them and decided that the sea was too rough and made their way back to the ramp.

Sadly the missing man was found later deceased.

---

CERTIFICATE OF MERIT
JAMIE SCOTT USHER, of Hackham, SA

in going to the apprehension of an armed assailant who had threatened a number of people with a knife at Ascot Vale, Vic on 29 September 2008.

At about 10.30am a man committed an armed robbery at the Ascot Vale post office where he jumped the counter, grabbed the male attendant by the arm, pointed a knife with an 8” blade at him and made demands for money. The male attendant opened the till and handed the assailant some money.

The assailant ran off down the road and attempted to steal a taxi by pointing the knife at the driver. The taxi driver was able to drive around the assailant and drove away.

The armed assailant then approached a man in a stationary vehicle with a young child in the rear seat. He pointed the knife at the man and made demands that he wanted the car. The driver was able to push the armed assailant away from the car and drove off.

Messrs Robert & Rodney Murrell and Usher saw the assailant running along the footpath and approach a woman driver who was stationary at a set of lights with the driver’s window down. The assailant placed the knife against the woman’s throat and made demands that she hand over her vehicle. Messrs Murrell and Usher all yelled at the woman to drive off. The yelling resulted in the assailant focussing his attention on the three men and the woman was able to drive away but was forced to stop after a short distance due to traffic congestion. The assailant ran towards where the woman in the car had again stopped and all three men yelled at her to keep driving which she did.

The assailant then started to run towards some housing commission flats with Messrs Murrell and Usher in pursuit, warning people that the man had a knife.

In fear for his own and others safety Mr Robert Murrell threw a block of concrete that was on the ground at the assailant which hit him above his right eye. His knees began to wobble and the men were able to hold the assailant chest down onto the ground until the police arrived.

(The other recipients received their awards at an investiture in Melbourne)