DECEMBER 18, 2019 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
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Honour for bravery By Goya Dmytryshchak Newport train driver Paul Ewert remembers every detail of the day he dragged a workmate from a burning car moments before it exploded. Last week, his actions were honoured with a silver medal in the bravery awards of The Royal Humane Society of Australasia. Three years ago, on October 26, Mr Ewert had been getting a lift back to Melbourne with two colleagues. Alan Cogger was driving and Joel Pring was in the back seat. They were at Invergordon in northern Victoria when a truck struck their car head on. “We drove a train to Tocumwal, which we were meant to bring back the next day,” Mr Ewert said. “While we were at Tocumwal, they told us that the train wasn’t running … due to insufficient loading so they were going to send a person to pick us up and drive us back to Melbourne in a car.
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My leg was pushed back through my pelvis so I was hopping - Paul Ewert
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Paul Ewert was awarded a silver medal for bravery. (Damjan Janevski) 202349_02
But the door wouldn’t budge. “I hopped around to the other side, tried to get that open and it wasn’t any good,” Mr Ewert said. “Fortunately, the back windscreen, the back window was broken. “We ended up managing to get Joel sort of
half conscious, slapping and yelling at him, and he finally got it together – he just sort of stuck his whole body through the back window of the car and this other bloke, Drew, and myself, managed to drag him and get him off the road. “Then people helped me get off the road. “And the next thing, the car’s well and truly
gone.” Mr Ewert was among seven Victorians awarded for bravery. Mr Black was awarded the Clarke Silver Medal for most outstanding act of bravery for the year and will receive his award from the Governor-General at a separate ceremony.
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“When we had the accident, a truck came across onto the wrong side of the road and cleaned us up head on.” The next thing Mr Ewert recalls is someone helping him. “As soon as the car actually stopped, my door had popped open slightly and I dived out onto the ground and the next thing someone’s picking me up,” Mr Ewert said. “I said, ’Who are you?’ Andrew ‘Drew’ Black had been driving in the car behind and had swerved down an embankment to avoid the collision. “He was … in the car behind us and he’d seen what was about to happen and headed off into the bush to get out of the way … well, the truck hit us back into his car as well and he was there all ready to pick me up,” Mr Ewert said. “Once he picked me up, he said, ‘We’ve got to get everybody out of the car ’cause the car’s on fire’. “I looked back in … and I could see that the driver was dead – he had a gash on his forehead and it wasn’t bleeding. “I looked into the back seat and my other mate, Joel, was sort of writhing unconscious in the back seat. “My leg was pushed back through my pelvis so I was hopping, I tried to get the door open.”