The four members of the public who provided Esperance shark attack victim Sean Pollard with vital first response care have been awarded for their efforts.
The Governor of Western Australia, Her Excellency the Honourable Kerry Sanderson AO, has today presented Community Hero Awards to members of the public and St John Ambulance Western Australia volunteers at Government House.
The Community Hero Awards are awarded to individuals who have displayed enormous courage and exceptional judgement in assisting another human being.
Ross Tamlin, Dean Gaebler and Peter Rothnie were each awarded with a Community Hero Award in the Community Category while Kylie Rothnie, who is also a St John Country Ambulance volunteer in Albany, has been named a Community Hero in the Service category.
They were all recognised for the first response care they gave to Bunbury man Sean Pollard when he was attacked at Kelp Beds Beach in October.
Mr Tamlin was out surfing just a few hundred metres from where Mr Pollard was attacked and was about to leave when he heard a man screaming out but couldn't hear what was being said.
He started telling people to get out of the water and rushed to where Mr Pollard was, about 400-metres away, and by that time the shark attack victim had managed to swim between 50-100m towards the shore.
Peter Rothnie and Dean Gaebler were also at the beach separately and rushed in to the water where Mr Pollard was laying on his back about 50m off shore, in waist deep water and pulled the Bunbury man out of the water. Mr Tamlin phoned emergency services.
Also at the scene was Mr Rothnie's wife Kylie Rothnie - an off-duty paramedic who was enjoying the beach with her family.
Her first aid skills were put into action and she said together, they all helped care for the shark attack victim, who had lost a hand and most of his arm in the attack.
They used towels and surfboard leg ropes to help stop the blood loss and kept him talking.
From there, Mr Pollard was put on a surfboard and into his Nissan vehicle and driven towards Esperance Hospital.
Conrad Lowe, who is also a St John Country Ambulance volunteer in Condingup, was also recognised as a Community Hero for his care of an abalone diver who was attacked by a shark east off Esperance in October last year.
Mr Lowe had been tending to his neighbour's farming property 120 kilometres east of Esperance, when he received a call saying a diver had been attacked by a shark at the remote location of Poison Creek.
The diver, Greg Pickering, had been bitten on the head and shoulders.
Mr Lowe found Mr Pickering and administered oxygen, cleaned and tended to some of the wounds and then begun the 40km drive towards an ambulance.
Mr Lowe said the award had come as a surprise.
"I wasn't expecting it, I was basically just doing what I've been trained to do," he said.
St John chief executive officer Tony Ahern said each of the award winners had delivered exceptional first aid under extreme duties.
"These people have demonstrated acts of courage or exceptional judgement in putting the needs of others first and they deserve to be applauded," he said.
