Two men receive honours for rescuing crash victims

DEAN KOZANIC/The Press

LIFESAVERS: Amberley's Allan Maxted and Blenheim's Mack Pouwhare were awarded silver medals by the Royal Humane Society for their actions after separate car crashes in 2008.

Relevant offers

Two South Island men who saved lives in separate car crashes have received national awards for bravery.

Amberley greengrocer Allan Maxted and Blenheim vineyard contractor Mack Pouwhare were awarded silver medals by the Royal Humane Society for their actions in 2008.

Maxted dragged a man from a car crash shortly before the vehicle was engulfed in flames, while Pouwhare saved three children from a car accident that left power lines dangling close to them.

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

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

"I just knew that I had to get this bloke out of it," he said.

Pouwhare said he was "humbled" to receive the medal.

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 that two teenage women were unconscious, with their children under power lines that were "only about 30 centimetres off the ground".

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.

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

"At least we have got four people still alive," Pouwhare said.

- © Fairfax NZ News