A CFA Commander is among passers-by praised for their quick thinking and support when a boy fell off his bike while riding past Damascus College in Mt Clear with his friends earlier this week.
District 15 Commander Malcolm Hayes said he’d been on his way to work when he saw the boy lying on the side of the road.
“I thought he’d been hit by a car initially so I went over. I saw he’d come off his bike and had snapped his wrist which was pretty badly broken,” he said.
“For a kid with a broken wrist, he was pretty brave and wasn’t complaining or anything. He had a helmet on which was lucky.”
Commander Hayes called Triple Zero and spoke to Ambulance Victoria.
“I’ve got an EMR [Emergency Medical Response] background, but even if I didn’t have that I would have thought any CFA members would stop to render assistance. I certainly wasn’t going to drive past,” he said.
“A couple members of the public had also stopped, along with an off-duty paramedic.”
Malcolm reassured the boy until his parents arrived, and with an ambulance still some time away, the teenager was helped into the family car to be transported to hospital.
Expressing her appreciation in a Buninyong community Facebook group, the boy’s mother Cressida said her son Hayden had fractured his wrist quite badly in the fall and also chipped his front teeth.
“It would have been easy for people driving past to think it was just some young boys mucking around and to not bother stopping. Instead, there were quite a few people that stopped and offered their assistance including a lovely lady called Christine and fireman Malcolm Hayes,” she wrote.
“They both stayed with Hayden until his Dad and I arrived, even ringing Tripe Zero. Thank you to everyone, especially Hayden’s mates who stayed calm throughout what would have been quite a traumatic experience. We are incredibly grateful to you all!”
Commander Hayes’ boss, Assistant Chief Fire Officer Eddie Lacko, wasn’t surprised by his colleague’s actions when he heard about the reason why he was late for work that day.
“He apologised but said he’d been helping a young kid on the side of the road who’d come off his bike. He provided first aid and reassured him until his parents could take him off to hospital,” he said.
“This is just the type of person that Malcolm is. He’s always willing to assist and he’s got a clear idea about community and support. This has obviously had an impact on the family as they put a post on Facebook thanking Malcolm for his help.
“Most people join CFA to help communities, so I think it’s fantastic and it’s a real reflection on CFA people.”