Siblings save Davidson boy Samuel Whiley, 10, from being crushed to death
A mum who froze in fear as she watched her son crushed under a garage door has praised her two other children, who heroically saved their brother’s life as he was just ‘seconds from dying’.
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A 10-year-old northern beaches boy who was seconds from being crushed to death underneath an industrial garage door was saved by his siblings who sprang into action.
Samuel Whiley, of Davidson, was with his mum Rebecca, sister Jessica, 7, and older brother William, 12, when the garage door to a carpark for shops at the junction of Yindela St and Pound Avenue, in Davidson, started to shut and he thought he could slip under in time.
Instead he found himself pinned to the ground with the door pressing downwards on his chest.
“I watched as his eyes started slowly popping out due to the pressure of the door on his chest,” Mrs Whiley, 44, said.
“The gap was about 15cm.
“It was too heavy to lift.
“He was seconds from dying, he looked like he was about to convulse.
“I was frozen. I thought, ‘You are going to die and I need to be with you when that happens’.”
Meanwhile, his quick thinking younger sister grabbed a pole lying on the floor and used it to push a button located high up on the garage wall which opened the door.
His brother stepped in front of the sensor to stop it coming back down again.
“I can’t believe what my girl did,’ Ms Whiley said.
“All I could say to her was, ‘You are such a good girl’.
“I am so proud of both of my children for saving their brother.”
Samuel, who is in Year 5 at Wakehurst Public School, was taken by ambulance to Sydney Children’s Hospital with chest pains, but was not found to have broken any bones or internal injuries.
He did suffer a haemorrhage behind one eye and his face was swollen from pressure of the blood in his head not having anywhere to go.
There were also little red dots over his body where the capillaries had broken.
He was kept in hospital overnight.
Although he’s having a few issues with his vision doctors have told the family it will be fine when his eyes settle down again.
“I can’t believe he survived,” Mrs Whiley said. “I think I’m still in shock, it hasn’t really sunk in yet.”
She said the family had enjoyed a lovely day at the beach on Sunday and were just unloading the car.
The doors automatically close at a certain time each evening, but there’s other ways to access the carpark.
“He knows there’s another way into the carpark but he decided to just duck under,” she said.
“He’s not a risk-taker, he’s a lovely boy.
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“It was the most horrifying moment of my life to see that garage door continue to close down across Samuel's’s chest.
“We are amazed at Jessica and William’s quick thinking which saved him.
“We’re so happy he’s still here.”
The director of Strata Revolution, Michelle Russell, said the garage was on a bi-annual maintenance contract and following the incident a technician was sent to the site and reported everything was working fine.
She was later informed that the boy had ducked under the sensor, which is about 50 cms off the ground, which is why it did not pick him up.
“We are glad to hear the boy is fine,” she said.
“This is a good time to remind people to be vigilant around electric garage doors.”
Originally published as Siblings save Davidson boy Samuel Whiley, 10, from being crushed to death
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