Police Rescue constables save Lismore women trapped in home

Two hero cops have used a boogie board to rescue an elderly woman who was moments away from being submerged by floodwaters inside her home.

Two hero cops who used a boogie board to rescue an elderly woman who was moments away from being submerged by floodwaters inside her Lismore home have praised her “amazing” will to live.

Senior constables Adam Davis and Ben King, both 48, returned on Thursday to the South Lismore property where they rescued 93-year-old Mary as thousands across the city banded together and tried to come to terms with the flooding disaster.

The two officers had boarded a punt with two young men to help residents when they heard Mary calling for help from inside her two-storey home that was about to go under last Monday.

Snr Cnst King dived inside and found Mary floating on a mattress with only a gap of about 20cm between the ceiling and water level, which was only just allowing her to breathe.

Police Rescue senior constables Ben King and Adam Davis. Picture: Toby Zerna

The two constables revisit the room where they found Mary floating on a mattress. Picture: Toby Zerna

In an act of Aussie ingenuity, the police used a boogie board to pull Mary out through a small gap in the window and onto the punt as strong water currents raged around them.

“The only breathing space she had was between the ceiling and the bottom of the mattress,” Snr Cnst King told The Daily Telegraph.

“It was amazing, the strength of her, that lady, for holding out for that amount of time is huge.”

Snr Cnst Davis said they could not have done it unless the young men they were with on the punt had found the boogie board.

“The boogie board was a big help and Mary’s calmness and the boys … we couldn’t have done it without them,” he said.

Mary is in a stable condition while recovering in hospital.

Meanwhile, thousands of residents across Lismore were hard at work on Thursday cleaning up as many struggled to comprehend the long-term economic impact of the floods on the town of 28,000.

The whole city centre resembles a war zone, with destroyed household belongings, office equipment and trash stacked on top of each other in massive piles along the sides of streets.

John Quikley from the Richmond Hotel stands at the back of his damaged premises in Lismore. Picture: Toby Zerna

The badly damaged Richmond Hotel. Picture: Toby Zerna

Residents along Diadem St put their damaged furniture and belongings onto the roadside ready for collection. Picture: Toby Zerna

Donna Rossington, who was throwing out books onto a big pile outside of where she runs a book and antiques store in an old church, said she was worried about Lismore’s future.

“It’s never flooded this church before … we’ve cleared lots today, it went in over the door,” she said.

“Everybody is numb, we can’t change it, we’ve just got to get through it.

“Here it is tough (to have a small business) … it is so tough, so hoping it will get going again, because a lot of businesses said they won’t.”

Carmel, 46, and Casey Horner, 50, were busy cleaning up after the floods hit their toy store hard in the CBD.

Ms Horner said her emotions were all over the place.

“It’s so up and down, it’s crazy, you have these little moments where you hear these amazing stories of the rescues … it just give you this huge uplift and joy and then five minutes later … you’re in the depths of despair and just thinking: ‘How am I going to keep doing this?,’ she said.

Brodey and Gary Rossington throw out damaged books from Books and Stuff onto the footpath. Picture: Toby Zerna

Carmel and Carey Horner operate the Toy Kingdom store on Woodlark St and had all of their stock ruined by the flood waters. Picture: Toby Zerna

But there was also hope amid the gloom in Lismore.

A big group of Fijian boys – originally in town to work at an abattoir before turning to volunteering to help flood survivors – broke into song and sung a beautiful hymn on kerb side to lift everybody’s spirits.

Team leader Josua Tavakedrau said they wanted to help Lismore.

“It’s in our DNA for Fijians when disasters like a cyclone, flood or something like that comes up, you have to help out your neighbour, that is the spirit we brought up,” he said.