Airlie Beach miner, Peter Merfield rescues crash victims near Proserpine

A miner has told how he jumped into a creek despite a crocodile warning sign to rescue people from a sinking car which had crashed. DETAILS

On a drive from Whitsunday Coast Airport to Airlie Beach, a FIFO miner sprung into action when he saw a car veer off the Bruce Highway and into a creek.

A miner has told how he stripped down to his shorts and jumped into a creek to rescue people from a sinking car which had crashed.

Peter Merfield, 35, an Airlie Beach local who works FIFO at a mine site in WA, said he saw a car veer off the road just after 6pm on November 14.

He had just been picked up by his mother from Whitsunday Coast Airport, south of Proserpine, and was on his way to his home in Airlie Beach when he saw the crash out of the corner of his eye.

“I yelled at my mum to pull over and sprinted across the highway,” Mr Merfield said.

Peter Merfield, 35, a FIFO miner, said another bystander kept warning him about crocodiles as he waded into Lethe Brook to help a man and woman in their 20s.

Mr Merfield ran to the creek, which he identified as Lethebrook, and said he saw the car sinking into the water.

“I stripped off down to my shorts and emptied my pockets,” he said.

He said he swam into the creek and helped a young man, confirmed by Queensland Ambulance Service to be in his 20s, get out of the car, before helping the driver’s girlfriend, a passenger also in her 20s.

According to Mr Merfield the driver’s girlfriend was bleeding “constantly” from her nose, so he gave her his shirt to help stop the flow of blood.

“If they’d went a metre either way they would have hit the tree and probably not been with us today,” he said.

He described the two being in a state of shock and, after helping them from the wreckage, swam back to retrieve their luggage.

Mr Merfield said he saw a crocodile warning sign by the creek and added another bystander warned him about large crocodiles in the area.

“Where they crashed is a pretty hairy spot,” he said.

“It’s got like the green pond leaves around the outside and is dark stagnant water.”

Initial investigations by Queensland Police suggest the driver swerved to avoid another vehicle.
QPS said the female passenger was taken to Proserpine Hospital with minor injuries in a stable condition.

“It was a bit of a crazy experience,” Mr Merfield said.

“I said to my mum if I wasn’t there it could have been a lot different.”

Originally published as Airlie Beach miner, Peter Merfield rescues crash victims near Proserpine