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Four years ago on the 9th of September, 2013, lives were changed forever when Emergency Services received a call out to a serious traffic accident on the Gateway Overpass, near the Pine River Bridge on the Gympie Arterial Road.

Witnesses were already on the scene, assisting the driver and passenger.

At 8.50pm, a Kenilworth truck travelling north tipped over the barrier of the overpass with the cab of the truck impacting on the gravel below.

The then twenty-four year old driver was able to extricate himself from the cab while the then twenty-five year old passenger remained trapped in the cab. With large volumes of diesel leaking and the trailer precariously slipping further down, every second that passed was crucial. A woman who witnessed the accident sat with the passenger (Terry) in order to comfort him. Two men who witnessed the accident, worked together to lift what they believed to be the dashboard to free the passenger, only to discover the lower section of his left leg was missing. One of the men removed his shirt and made an improvised tourniquet to apply to the victim’s leg in an attempt to stabilise him.
Police and other emergency services attended the scene, some of whom crawled under the sliding rig, to completely free the man from the wreck. Terry was moved out from under the trailer and taken to the hospital just in time.

These days, Terry is married with a child but things could have been so different for him. The Emergency Services personnel and brave members of the community were awarded a group Bravery Award by the Queensland Governor Paul De Jersey on the 2nd of May this year to acknowledge their actions. The Award recipients were some members of the public and Queensland Police members who attended the accident.

The Award recipients were:
Acting Sergeant Kerrianne Maree EDWARDS, Senior Constable Matthew John GRACE, Ms Riley Heather LYE, Senior Constable Michael John McGAHAN, Senior Constable Alan Gregory MONTGOMERY, Senior Constable Kurt Norman MUDGWAY and Mr Alan James STAINES.