THREE Bathurst people who showed courage under fire – literally – will receive Australian Bravery Awards from Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove.
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David Alan White will receive a bravery medal, while Kristie Clayton and Amos John Mills will receive group bravery citations at a special ceremony in Canberra later in the year.
Mr Mills and Ms Clayton were instrumental in saving the lives of two young girls trapped in a house fire.
The pair were working for Austar when they noticed smoke billowing out of a house in Greville Place, Kelso on July 22, 2010.
Ms Clayton, recalling the event like it was yesterday, said they went down to see if they could help, never imagining the trauma of what was about to unfold.
“A little boy ran past and started yelling at us that his sisters were still inside,” she said.
“We went to the back door to try and get in, but it was fully engulfed in flames, and we couldn’t get in.
“We asked him where they were and he said ‘they are asleep in the bedroom’.”
They couldn’t get in through the window, so had to break through the wall.
“I found a golf club – I have no idea where that came from – and we used it to punch through the fibro,” Ms Clayton said.
“Amos felt around inside the room. He couldn’t see anything, but then he found the bed.”
Going by touch, he found one of the girls and passed her out to Ms Clayton.
“She wasn’t breathing, so I started CPR, while Amos went back and kept going, looking for the other girl [who they eventually got out as well].”
The trauma remains for Ms Clayton.
“Even now I can’t stand the smell of smoke. I can’t even go near a wood heater; it brings it back to me,” she said.
“It is hard to think about. I remember being so worried [doing CPR]; I was pushing so hard I thought I’d break her ribs.”
Ms Clayton doesn’t consider herself a hero.
“I just did it. I’ve always had first-aid training, but I’d never had to use it before and haven’t had to since.”
Looking back, she believes fate played a big part in what happened that day.
“We were supposed to be working out of town and we changed it at the last minute,” she said.
Meanwhile, Mr White will receive his award for rescuing a woman from a burning car following a collision in Sassafras, near Nowra.
