Senior Constable Kevin Mayo receives bravery award for 2018 Gympie car fire rescue

A police officer who risked his life to save a man from a burning car in Gympie has been honoured for his courage and heroism.

A police officer who came to the rescue of a man trapped in a burning car in 2018 has been awarded a Certificate of Merit for his heroism at the 2021 Annual Bravery Awards.

Senior Constable Kevin Alva Mayo, 43, was among thirteen residents of Queensland to be presented with awards of The Royal Humane Society of Australasia on Friday May 21 in Brisbane.

The awards, one Gold Medal, four Silver Medals, seven Bronze Medals and one Certificate of Merit were presented by the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Councillor Adrian Schrinner.

Sen-Const Mayo was awarded the Certificate of Merit for rescuing a man from a burning car at Gympie on June 6, 2018.

Const Jeremy Gardiol (left) and Sen-Const Kevin Mayo rescued a man trapped inside a vehicle in Gympie in 2018. Picture: Nine News

At 7.10am a driver depressed both the accelerator and brake and was unable to slow down and proceeded straight through an intersection, his vehicle coming to a rest on the embankment on the other side.

The vehicle then rolled down the embankment on its side with the driver trapped inside.

Alan Girdler witnessed the accident and went to help the trapped driver but was not able to open any of the doors.

When Sen-Constable Mayo and Constable Jeremy Gardiol arrived at the scene, the car had caught fire, with flames and smoke coming out of the vehicle’s bonnet.

The vehicle was positioned next to an electric power pole and directly under electrical power lines.

As the car was filled with smoke, Constable Gardiol smashed the passenger side window of the vehicle to allow the vehicle’s cabin to vent and the driver to breathe.

“We didn’t think about anything else other than getting him out alive,” Const Garidol told The Courier-Mail at the time.

“(Your own life) is always a concern but you can’t think about that, you just have to get to the person in the car.”

Sen-Const Mayo and Const Gardiol immediately started to smash the front windscreen with their batons and kicked the windscreen until a hole was made.

Both police offices and Mr Girdler then started pulling the glass away with their hands to make the hole larger to free the trapped driver and finally dragged the driver from the car through the windscreen.

All three men suffered cuts from glass embedded in their hands and some smoke inhalation.

The driver was taken to hospital and made a full recovery.

Unfortunately, Const Gardiol and Mr Girdler were unable to attend the award ceremony.