Medals honour brave actions

Marlborough's Mack Pouwhare has been honoured for his heroic rescue of three children from under live power lines.

Vineyard contractor Mr Pouwhare and Amberley greengrocer Allan Maxted were awarded silver medals by the Royal Humane Society for their actions in 2008 in Christchurch yesterday.

Mr Pouwhare saved three children from a car accident that left power lines dangling close to them on Cravens Rd in Spring Creek.

Mr Maxted dragged a man from a car crash shortly before the vehicle was engulfed in flames.

Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand, the society's patron, presented the medals to the men, saying they had "displayed the greatest of human qualities".

"Your valiant actions preserved lives of those in peril, and for that you have my great respect and appreciation," he said.

Mr Pouwhare said he was "humbled" to receive the medal and had flown his mother from Hamilton for the ceremony.

He and his wife had been cooking a roast when they heard a crash from their house.

"I went out on to our deck and saw that the power lines were down, and then I heard these two young ladies just screaming their heads off."

When he arrived at the accident, he saw two unconscious teenage women with their children under power lines that were "only about 30 centimetres off the ground".

Mr Pouwhare crawled under the wires to grab the two babies and helped the three-year-old to crawl to safety.

"I was telling her to just crawl out on her hands and knees, stay calm, don't panic."

One of the women died at the scene, while the other woman and the children were fine after being treated at hospital.

"I couldn't do anything [for the women]. I had to help the children."

Mr Pouwhare said it was "still tough" to think of what had happened more than a year later.

He had not spoken to the survivors since the accident, but would "probably track them down" at some point to see how they were doing.

Mr Maxted said he was "pretty honoured" to receive the award. "I didn't think I deserved it really."

He was "sound asleep" when he heard the car crash into a lamp-post outside his house.

"There was a roar and a bang, so I knew it had hit something, and then I saw that it was on fire."

He saw the unconscious driver was trapped inside and went into the burning car to pull him out.

- The Marlborough Express