IT has been five years since Naomi Roskell tied some twine around herself and waded into chest-deep floodwater to rescue a young family stranded on the roof of their car.
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And although it was a connection of only a few moments, there are questions that remain for the Valentine mum who will be formally recognised today in the Australian bravery awards.
‘‘I have no idea who they are,’’ Ms Roskell said.
‘‘I would love to meet them; that would be wonderful.’’
Ms Roskell, 34, has been awarded a commendation for brave conduct for taking on floodwaters during the Pasha Bulker storm on the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in 2007.
She had been on her way home when the rivers of rain caused her to detour through Lambton.
Ms Roskell found herself at a service station and parked on the highest ground she could find to wait out the storm.
But she was soon seeing vehicles being washed away.
So she jumped on the bonnet of a four-wheel-drive and went to the rescue of a man, believed to be aged in his 60s, who was clinging onto the side mirror of his car.
‘‘We just edged a bit further forward and he was drifting away, but we were able to get him out and to safety,’’ Ms Roskell recalled.
It was then that she saw the mother and two young children trapped atop their car.
With the service station shutting, Ms Roskell grabbed some twine, wrapped it around her waist, secured it to a light pole and started the walk through chest-deep water.
‘‘When you have the adrenalin pumping you don’t really have bearing on how long it takes or how deep the water was,’’ she said.
‘‘Sometimes I feel like it only happened yesterday, and other times I feel like I didn’t do it at all. It was a very intense experience.’’
After getting the young family to safety, Ms Roskell didn’t stop.
She saved three children trapped on the wrong side of a road before returning home to her own young family.
Ms Roskell is one of 79 individuals and five groups who will be recognised today for their bravery.
Driver rescued just before car exploded
A COALFIELDS man who helped a man out of a burning vehicle will be one of just two Australians awarded today with the second highest bravery award in the nation – the Star of Courage.
Clayton Giddings, of Kearsley, was so determined to help a man from his burning vehicle on the Gold Coast five years ago that he smothered flames on the man’s hair and clothes during the rescue.
At one stage in the rescue at Mudgeeraba on February 13, 2007, Mr Giddings was forced back because of the fierce flames, only to return when the flames retreated ‘‘slightly’’.
He had first climbed into the car when he came across it lying upside-down. The man inside was struggling to stay conscious.
He tugged at the driver’s shirt after climbing inside, smothered the flames when they caught in the man’s hair and clothes and re-entered the car.
‘‘He pushed the driver upwards and managed to undo his seatbelt, then worked with two others to pull the driver out and lift him to safety before the vehicle exploded,’’ a formal description reads.
