A grey nomad couple are being hailed as heroes after pulling a police officer from a horrific single vehicle crash in isolated Gulf country.
The North West Star newspaper reports that Doomadgee-based police officer Stephanie Tyler sustained severe injuries in a car crash on the isolated Wills Developmental Road halfway between Doomadgee and Mount Isa.
The vehicle rolled about seven times landing in grass which caught fire.
Townsville Police said grey nomads Robert and Amanda Boswell were first on the scene of last week’s accident.
“They had pulled over to swap drivers when they noticed a bit of smoke up ahead,” Shift Supervisor Betty Hamoud told the Star. “When they got there they saw the rollover and a grass fire behind the vehicle.”
The couple’s attempts to retrieve Ms Tyler from the vehicle were thwarted as she was unable to move due to the pain.
“My right arm was like spaghetti,” Ms Tyler later told police.
Mr Boswell, who was concerned about the fire, managed to pull her out of the vehicle and gave her his thongs so she wouldn’t have to walk on the glass shards surrounding the vehicle.
“Mrs Boswell never left her side even though she copped a lot of abuse from our Steph (Officer Tyler) but she was like a true mother to her,” said Sgt Hamoud. “She kept the flies off her face and kept Steph distracted and focused.”
A truck driver also pulled over to assist in providing as much relief to Ms Tyler as possible. He knelt down beside the stricken police office and held her arm in an improvised sling for hours.
The Star reports that all three humble heroes waited with Ms Tyler for nearly two hours as the Royal Flying Doctors Service and Queensland Ambulance Service headed to the scene.
Sgt Hamoud said the grey nomad couple did not have a satellite phone but they were lucky with where the accident occurred. It just happened to be in an area where there was just enough reception to call 000.
Ms Tyler was airlifted to Mount Isa Base Hospital before being transferred to Townsville with a severely broken arm, several cuts and bruising. She has just been discharged form hospital.
Ms Tyler, who has worked at Doomadgee for nearly three years, was heading out on holidays at the time, driving in her own vehicle to Mount Isa.
No we haven’, but hubby and I did a first aid course last month. Well you never know.
A hf radio, though a more expensive initial outlay, and the membership of a HF club would have seen almost instant access to emergency help.