Injune man Brody Gomersall hailed a hero after rescuing elderly man from burning car

The quick thinking and selfless actions of a passer-by saved the life of an elderly man after his car collided into a tree and burst into flames. Find out more here.

Injune man Brody Gomersall, with partner Steph and daughter Oakley.

An Injune man has been praised for his selfless and heroic actions after coming to the rescue of an elderly man, pulling him from the burning wreck of a vehicle following a collision with a tree.

Brody Gomersall was driving along Jandowae Connection Rd in Jinghi last Saturday with partner and baby when he heard a loud bang from behind him, turning around to find an elderly man who had crashed into a tree.

Trapped in a flaming car with a jerry can in the back seat Mr Gomersall snapped into action, saving the driver while suffering burns and cuts to his arms.

“I pulled up to check the load and the dogs I had on the work ute and I heard him crash a bit down the road. I turned around and went down there and by the time I got there the car was already hot because it was revving flat out,” Mr Gomersall said.

“It was revving as hard as it could and I had to try to turn it off, but the key was smashed up where he was sitting so I tried to jam the air filter up.

“The grass under the car had caught on fire which caused the back passenger door behind him to catch on fire. I towed the car out of the fire but the car was still on fire so I had to get him out.

“He was knocked out for about three or four minutes and once he came back too he started scrambling to get himself out but one leg had been broken backwards under the seat, fortunately I was able to get him out.”

Brody Gomersall and daughter Oakley.

Despite his quick thinking Mr Gomersall admitted it was a tense situation.

“I was freaking out, I’ve always lived on stations and you always put up with some seasonal fires, I’ve been under high stress situations before but this was a bit different,” he said.

“In the back of my mind the whole time I was thinking I didn't want my partner and kid to listen to him burn alive and it was f--king close. If I wasn't able to pull him out he would've burnt there.

“When I heard the crash, it was a busy weekend with the footy and I assumed it was a car load of young fellas but it was just a single old fella, a lucky old fella at that.

“I only did what anyone else would've done, you just have to do what you can do.”

Brody Gomersall suffered burns to his arm during the rescue.

Thanks to Mr Gomersall’s quick thinking the elderly man escaped with just a lower leg injury and was taken by ambulance to the Jandowae Health Service.

Brody’s mother Kerri Barr said this wasn’t Brody’s first brush with a fire rescue.

“In 2010 during Queensland’s largest bushfire at the time, which kicked off north of Gin Gin, we were on a station and the bosses had other caretakers on the place and one of them had fallen over and broken her arm trying to put the fire out around the house,” she said.

“Brody jumped in the rig with the sergeant and got through to her and got her to the hospital, he would’ve been about 12 at the time.

“We moved out to the Northern Territory after that and we were at Red CentreNATS when there was a really bad fire in the burnout pit and it burnt a heap of people standing at the front. Brody was one of the first responders, he jumped the bar, grabbed the water and brought it down to the people who had been hurt.”

Ms Barr said she was proud of her son.

“I’m super proud of him he's had to come through a lot of in life,” she said.

“He didn't have it easy growing up. My ex-husband had a falling out with his father and we lost everything so he didn't have the easiest childhood.

“I’ve been beaming with pride for the last three days, when you raise children and they turn into really good adults you are really proud.

“If it wasn't for his quick thinking that man would not be here anymore. He has no fear, he probably should’ve been a firey.”

When asked if the incident has inspired him to be a firefighter Mr Gomersall’s response was simple.

“F--k no, I never want that to happen again.”