The man who pulled a NSW driver out of his burning car says he was “happy to help” as a “typical country Australian person” – and someone who’s been brought back from the brink himself a few times.
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Mark Nairn, from Narrabri on the NSW north west slopes, said he was looking forward to meeting crash survivor Kieran Davies “when he’s ready, when he’s better” ... but he does have some bad news for him.
“Mate, I don’t want to hurt you again, but I don’t drink,” Mr Nairn said of Mr Davies’ offer to buy him a carton of beer.
“Just make it a carton of Pepsi Max, but I don’t expect anything at all.”
Mr Nairn said he’d been driving home from work at the Boggabri tip on April 28 with the taillights of car ahead of him, when it “flicked to the side into the guard rails, spun around and went bang into the tree”.
“I pulled up and grabbed the phone from the car to ring Triple-0,” he said.
“Then I put it back in my pocket and thought: better check if he’s all right first.
“I said, ‘Mate, you all right?’ – he was moaning, and I said, ‘The car’s catching on fire, better get you out’.
“By the time I got him out and at ground level, the car had started to burn.”
Mr Nairn said it was funny how the brain worked in times of crisis.
“He’s asked me to be his friend on Facebook and I looked at his profile – I didn’t even notice he had a tattoo on his face.”
Mr Nairn said he’d almost lost his own life through road accidents and a bout of critical illness.
“I’ve had three close calls in my life,” he said.
“I texted my sister about what happened, and she wrote a text message back saying, ‘Well, that’s one of the lives you’ve given back, now’ …
“I’m happy to help.
“I pulled up and hopefully I did what any typical country Australian person would do: help where they can.”
It was a ‘normal day’, says crash victim
Gunnedah man Kieran Davies said it was just a normal day driving to his work as a miner in Narrabri.
Then he suddenly he lost control of his car.
“I can’t really remember the crash, but I’ve gone off the road, clipped a guardrail and went head-on into a tree,” he said.
“The car instantly caught on fire and I was knocked out inside.
“Some fella pulled up, and got me out of the car and pulled me to safety.
“He was calm – very, very calm, actually – but I remember him saying, ‘The car’s on fire, the car’s on fire, we’ve gotta get you out’.”
Mr Davies, 26, said he was very lucky there was anyone on the road to even see it happen, let alone help him.
“That road from Baan Baa to Narrabri, no one usually drives down there.”
He escaped with a concussion, “a bit of a black eye” and a few nicks.
“And pretty much every muscle in my body is aching,” he said.
“Hitting a tree at 100 will do that to ya.”
Mr Davies’ dad Mark said “words can’t really describe” how he felt knowing someone had put their own life in danger to save his eldest child.
“It would take a very good person to do that sort of stuff; not everybody would do it,” Mr Davies said.
“I’m more than grateful for what he’s done my family.”
Carolyn Millet
Based at The Northern Daily Leader, Tamworth, and Namoi Valley Independent, Gunnedah. Covering general news and features on community, council, arts, business, health, education, entertainment and rural matters.
Based at The Northern Daily Leader, Tamworth, and Namoi Valley Independent, Gunnedah. Covering general news and features on community, council, arts, business, health, education, entertainment and rural matters.
