Gold Coast brothers punched through window of truck to save delivery man from dying

QUICK thinking and a powerful right handed punch from an aspiring teenage Latin dancer has saved a delivery man from dying in Nerang.

Michael Wilson and Chris Wilson from Tallai helped save a man who fell unconscious behind the wheel of his truck at Nerang.

QUICK thinking and a powerful right-handed punch from an aspiring teenage Latin dancer have saved a delivery man from dying in Nerang.

About a dozen people rushed to help Eric Purdon when he began convulsing and lost consciousness while at the wheel of his Yuen’s Market Trading Co truck at traffic lights on Ferry St, about 11am yesterday.

It was Michael Wilson, 16, and his brother Chris Wilson, 22, who got to Mr ­Purdon’s truck first after it rolled backwards, smashing into a guardrail.

The smashed glass at the scene of the crash.

“It was confronting how he changed colour; he had turned white,” Michael said. “We were just ­having brekkie when we saw the truck rolling backwards.

“We bolted over and he was lying sideways and convulsing.”

When they tried to pull the door open, they realised it was locked, with the Crestmead father unconscious.

Truck driver Eric Purdon was saved after having a medical episode at the wheel.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Michael threw his fist through the truck’s window.

“Chris was looking around for a pole or a rock or something, but then I heard someone say smash it, so I did,” Michael said.

The pair, both trained in CPR, hauled the driver’s door open and an ­unknown middle-aged man with medical training jumped into the truck and began chest ­compressions.

The scene of a truck crash yesterday.

Chris, a barista, called emergency services as more good Samaritans gathered around.

By the time about six people had arrived, the man who had taken charge of the situation said it was safe to lower Mr Purdon out of the truck.

“We actually put him on a slight slope so the blood rushed to his head,” Chris said.

A nurse from the nearby Hinterland Medical Centre heard the commotion and ran to help, armed with a ­defibrillator.

“The nurse defibbed him once, then he started to vomit and then finally he started breathing,” Chris said. “The paramedics shocked him once as well.”

Michael Wilson and Chris Wilson from Tallai saved a man who had a seizure in his truck at Nerang while driving. Picture Glenn Hampson

The boys said the group of strangers pulled together for about 15 minutes to keep Mr Purdon alive before paramedics arrived.

“The guys had it under control, the police came and asked who had medical training and the nurse and the main guy both put up their hands,” Chris said.

“The police just said, ‘Keep going’.

“The best thing was that a lot of people came to help.”

Mr Purdon was taken to Gold Coast University ­Hospital where an official confirmed he was in a stable condition and under observation late yesterday.

Michael flies to Canada this morning to pursue his Latin dancing dreams around the world.

“It was a very eventful last day in Australia,” he said.