The courageous efforts of four Mount Isa locals who responded to a tragic Christmas Eve boating accident have been recognised with the 2019 RFDS Queensland Hero Award.
Simon Steel, Jim Lillecrapp and Robert and Belinda Worlein were presented with the award by Health Minister Steven Miles in front of more than 750 guests at the RFDS Wings for Life Gala in Brisbane on Saturday night.
They were chosen out of nine recipients of the 2019 RFDS Local Hero Awards from around the state, announced earlier this year.
Helicopter pilot Simon Steel and his friend Jim Lillecrapp were first on the scene of the accident at Lake Julius, 70km north east of Mount Isa, after being alerted by an EPIRB device.
What they encountered was a family of four whose boat had collided with an underwater log, resulting in serious and life-threatening injuries.
Simon and Jim managed to wade out to the boat and tow it back to shore with the family of four on board.
While this was taking place, Robert and Belinda Worlein arrived by boat after responding to the EPIRB device.
Using their boat, they managed to tow the injured family to a more suitable area where they could be accessed by the Royal Flying Doctor Service and Queensland Ambulance Service medical crews who were already on their way.
Their incredible efforts did not stop there, with the four staying on the scene and assisting medical crews well into the night.
The patients were eventually flown to Mount Isa before being transported to Townsville for life-saving specialist care. They are all now back home in Mount Isa.
RFDS (Queensland Section) CEO Meredith Staib said the calm, caring and skillful assistance the group provided on the day was crucial to the overall success of the retrieval and the positive outcomes of the patients involved.
"It takes someone special to find the courage to jump into a situation such as these four found themselves in at Lake Julius," Ms Staib said.
"Their quick thinking and skillful handling of the situation while the RFDS and emergency crews made their way to the site, I truly believe, saved more than one life that day.
"Without people like Simon, Jim, Belinda and Robert, and all of the other RFDS Local Hero Award winners from around the state, we would not be able to continue the work we do."
As part of the award, the group was given a $7,500 grant donated by Ergon Energy Retail to be used to improve health outcomes for their community.
They said the money would be used to assist in the delivery of mental health outreach programs to people in north west Queensland.
