How bravery, quick thinking saved a life

Two years ago a fiery crash between two trucks claimed the life of one driver, but the actions of two bystanders saved the life of the other.

Brian Dell’Agostino, of Leschenault, and Lynette Gilbert, of Waroona, were this week recognised with a group bravery citation from the Governor General for their heroic reactions to the crash on December 11, 2012.

Mrs Gilbert was the first person to arrive at the scene of the crash between a prime mover, towing two semi-trailers and a smaller truck on Old Coast Road in Myalup.

She said the first indication that something was wrong further up the road was a cloud of dust.

“I could see dust then saw potatoes all over the road, ” she said.

Mrs Gilbert, who was working at the Binningup desalination plant at the time – and had emergency response training through previous jobs and volunteer positions with the SES – clicked into autopilot when she realised the source of the dust and potatoes was a crash.

“I had my high-vis on and grabbed another one from my car in case anyone else turned up.

“I checked on the drivers. One was breathing and I cleared his airways and checked the other. I knew that he was dead straight away, ” she said.

When Mr Dell’Agostino saw the crash he recognised the smaller truck from where he worked at Galati Brothers vegetable farm and expected to see one of his colleagues was behind the wheel — instead it was his boss, Vince Galati.

“The truck was one we had on the farm, but Vince didn’t usually drive it, ” he said. Mr Dell’Agostino said the larger truck was on fire, and he was concerned the fire would spread to where his boss was trapped in the farm truck.

“There was fuel everywhere and dry grass and wood crates, ” he said.

He grabbed a shovel from another truck that had arrived at the scene and began digging a fire break between the two trucks, preventing the fire from spreading to the Galati truck. An award ceremony will be held in September.