{"id":262613,"date":"2020-07-02T14:26:14","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T04:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=262613"},"modified":"2020-07-02T14:26:14","modified_gmt":"2020-07-02T04:26:14","slug":"teen-recommended-for-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2020\/07\/02\/teen-recommended-for-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Teen Recommended For Award"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lewis Symonds, 14, with nine-year-old Ruby Hamilton whom he pushed to safety (Photo: Jenny Seesink)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

July 2, 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kingaroy police will recommend a Gold Coast teenager receive a bravery award after he pushed a nine-year-old girl out of the way of an out-of-control car.<\/p>\n

The incident occurred in Kingaroy Street on Monday morning when an elderly driver suffered a suspected medical episode while reversing out of a car parking space.<\/p>\n

His 4WD sped across the road, hitting another vehicle before jumping the kerb and scattering pedestrians on the footpath.<\/p>\n

It then crashed backwards through plate glass at the front of the Lifeline Furniture store.<\/p>\n

Fortunately no one was seriously injured in the incident.<\/p>\n

Officer-in-charge of Kingaroy Police, Senior Sergeant Dave Tierney, said it could well have been a tragedy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He praised the young man, Lewis Symonds, 14, for his quick thinking and reflexes in getting Ruby Hamilton, 9, to safety as the Nissan sped towards him.<\/p>\n

Lewis’ aunt, Jenny Seesink, told southburnett.com.au <\/strong>Lewis and Ruby were part of a holiday group – 23 people from four Brisbane and Gold Coast families – who had come to the South Burnett to spend five nights at the Bunya Mountains.<\/p>\n

They had decided to visit Kingaroy on Monday “just to have a look around” when the incident occurred.<\/p>\n

Some of the group were walking across the road, while others were on the footpath when “it all went a bit crazy”, Jenny recalled.<\/p>\n

Jenny said she was crossing the road as the 4WD tore across in reverse, “going at great speed”, before hitting a yellow ute.<\/p>\n

“It made an almighty bang,” Jenny said.<\/p>\n

Jenny’s son Jake, 13, and another member of the group, Rafferty Brown, 10, were on the footpath with Lewis and Ruby.<\/p>\n

Jake and Rafferty had time to run away while Lewis grabbed Ruby and pushed her out of the way.<\/p>\n

“It would have been a very different story if he had not hit that ute,” Jenny said.<\/p>\n

Jenny admitted the group’s holiday had been a disaster …<\/strong><\/p>\n

“After that our car broke down – that’s a $4000 repair – and then on Tuesday one of the girls with us broke her hand,” she said.<\/p>\n

“She was in hospital getting a cast on, and then yesterday a girl fell out of a tree and has possibly cracked a rib and got a mild concussion …<\/p>\n

“So to be honest, we’re not sure we going to come back!” she laughed.<\/p>\n

But Jenny said they were all just thanking their lucky stars, as Monday’s episode could have been a lot worse.<\/p>\n