Koala runs out on Gold Coast Highway at Burleigh Heads

An Irish national living on the Gold Coast has told of the moment he ran into traffic on a busy highway to save a koala “hellbent” on crossing the road. See the video.

A man running on adrenaline has run in the middle of a busy Gold Coast road to stop traffic after seeing a koala run out on to the road.

Will Thornton, originally from Ireland, now living at the Gold Coast never expected to see a Koala run towards Gold Coast Highway at Burleigh Heads.

“Myself and my wife were having a coffee on the balcony and we noticed a koala coming out of the tree below us and I thought it was pretty cool,” Mr Thornton said.

Will Thornton stops traffic on the Gold Coast Highway at Burleigh Heads to help a koala cross the road.

“He started moving towards Gold Coast highway, I thought that would be bad so I bolted down to help him.”

Mr Thornton said he ran on adrenaline and wasn’t thinking in the moment.

“He was hellbent about getting across the road,” he said.

“He just sort of kept going so I had to tried and stopped the traffic. I didn’t really know what the hell I was doing.

“I was trying to get the cars to look.”

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Mr Thornton was worried cars would get annoyed but they were pretty understanding.

“You can see in the video there’s a cyclist he had a good chuckle at me, people gave me the odd thumbs up.

Once the koala crossed the road, it went straight for a gum tree.

“I could imagine he was pretty spooked, it would’ve been pretty scary for him,” he said.

“I didn’t want to be up in his face, I was trying to keep my distance from him.

“It’s a busy stretch of road. I tried to get him across the road safety and try not to get myself hurt.