A Parkes carpenter has modestly said he was just doing what anyone would when he stopped and pulled two people out of a burning vehicle at Yeoval on Saturday.
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Travis Boland was travelling home from a church conference when he and his family witnessed the crash on the Renshaw McGirr Way, 30 kilometres out of Parkes.
Travis said he saw the vehicle veer off the road and crash into a tree. It flipped before landing back on its wheels, heavily damaged.
He pulled his car up and while his wife Belinda called Triple-Zero and tried to settle their four children, Travis ran to the vehicle.
After witnessing such a horrific crash, Travis said he was relieved to hear the 44-year-old driver making noise and see both were moving.
“I ran up to the car and prepared myself for the worst but as I got closer I heard the gentleman screaming. I saw there was two people in there and there was stuff dripping in the bottom of the car that was catching alight,” he said.
“Another gentleman ran up and helped me carefully get the child out and then I was able to help the man get out. Within a minute the car was in flames.”
Travis said as he approached the burning car, he hesitated for half a second
“I did, I braced myself and I hesitated. I thought what if the vehicle explodes but then I heard the screams and kept going,” he said.
“I’d like to think anyone else would have done the same and if that happened to me, somebody would have helped me.”
Police were on the scene within five minutes and an ambulance arrived within 10 minutes, Travis said.
“The boy had a cut on his head but seemed to be not too bad. The man had his left shoulder smashed pretty bad and we could tell he was in a pretty bad state,” he said.
“It seemed like forever [before help arrived] but it was actually very quick. A police four-wheel drive had passed us about five minutes earlier and he was first on scene,” he said.
“It was probably about 10 minutes for the ambulance and the helicopter was there in 20 or 30 minutes.”
Travis has already attracted attention from media outlets all across NSW but said he wasn’t too keen on all the attention. He was more interested in the recovery of the people he rescued.
“It doesn’t seem real. I’m not keen on fame or fortune. I just want to know that they are okay,” he said.
“I had a call from the mother of the man, she thanked me, and that’s very nice but I don’t expect any thanks.
“I want to say thank you to the ambulance crews and everyone who helped out because they did a remarkable job. They are the heroes, watching them work was amazing.”