Slain hero Luke Mitchell among 101 Australians honoured with Governor-General’s bravery awards

Slain good Samaritan Luke Mitchell is being honoured for his “considerable bravery” almost a decade after his death. These are the other 100 Australians receiving a bravery award.

Good Samaritan Luke Mitchell was 29 when he died. Picture: Supplied

Slain good Samaritan Luke Mitchell is being honoured for his “considerable bravery” almost a decade after his death.

The 29-year-old qualified chef was savagely stabbed to death on Sydney Rd, Brunswick, minutes after breaking up a fight.

Melburnians were shocked by both the hero’s murder and his killers’ escape to Thailand immediately after, before the trio were hauled back to Australia and jailed.

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Mr Mitchell is today among 101 Australians — eight of them Victorian — receiving a bravery award.

Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove paid special tribute to Mr Mitchell and others “whose brave acts mean they are no longer with us”.

“To their families, I express the nation’s sadness at your loss but pride in your loved one’s actions,” he said.

Good Samaritan Luke Mitchell. Picture: Supplied

Fourteen-year-old Will Slatterie is this year’s youngest Victorian recipient, having saved a woman and three children at risk of drowning at Thompson’s Beach near Cobram.

He first pulled a boy to safety before entering the water twice more to rescue another, as well as a woman and a girl perched on her shoulders as they screamed for help.

Speaking from school yesterday, the teenager told the Herald Sun that while he sometimes wondered about those he saved, he had not given his actions another thought.

“I didn’t think about what I was doing at the time — I just did it — and I don’t think much about it now,” he said.

“Living in Cobram, you know the rules and how to act around the river. You know to respect it.”

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The “humble” teenager had a growth spurt in the year before the January 2018 rescue, which mum Stacey Slatterie said might have saved them all.

“A year earlier I don’t think he could have done what he did,” she said.

“We always taught the kids if they saw something to help or if you can’t help, go and get help.

“He is a very humble. Obviously we are very proud of what he did but it is not something you set out to find or that you want to have happen again.”

Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove has honoured the brave Australian. Picture: Hollie Adams

South Australian nurse Kirsty Louise Boden — killed in the 2017 terrorist attack — will receive a Bravery Medal, along with Victorian sea kayaker Matthew Ian Flanagan who saved a man found clinging to his capsized canoe in “dangerous seas” at Bithry Inlet last year.

Malvern East mum Mary Sawan is one of three people to receive today’s highest honour, the Star of Courage, after she narrowly avoided being shot while defending her husband and son during a violent home invasion in 2015.

She is one of a number of Victorians being honoured for their extreme bravery in the face of danger.

Wantirna’s Christopher Alan Ganley, to receive a Commendation for Brave Conduct, tackled a man armed and threatening staff with an iron bar during an armed robbery at a Nunawading pharmacy in April 2016.

Gianfelice Fonte and Muhammad Usman are also being commended for coming to the aid of a woman hanging from a Southbank balcony a month later.

The pair, a resident and security officer at the high-rise, used a fire extinguisher to bash their way into the woman’s apartment and drag her from the balcony ledge.

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Mr Fonte said he automatically sprang into action during the late-night ordeal, after serving as an Italian firefighter for nine years.

“I wasn’t thinking about what we needed to do, it was just instinct,” he said.

“When you are in this situation, you can’t take a long time to think or feel. You just need to move.

Sir Cosgrove said the award recipients made Australia a “stronger, safer and more caring nation”.

“These awards honour those who, without pause, put themselves at personal risk to protect others,” he said.

“They are outstanding and deserve our nation’s gratitude.”

Recipients will be handed the insignia of their award from Sir Cosgrove or State Governors in the coming months.

THE AWARDS

STAR OF COURAGE

• Mary Sawan: Ms Sawan narrowly avoided being shot as she fought off masked and armed attackers, who had assaulted her husband and son, during a 2015 home invasion.

BRAVERY MEDAL

• Matthew Ian Flanagan: The sea kayaker helped save a man who was found clinging to his capsized canoe in “dangerous seas” at Bithry Inlet last year.

• Breanna Jeanne Gilbert: Ms Gilbert braved 11C water in an attempt to rescue an injured elderly man found floating face down in the Isar river in Munich, Germany. Despite towing him 200m downstream to the river bank, the man did not regain consciousness.

• Luke Edward Mitchell: The good Samaritan was killed minutes after he and his friends broke up a fight in Brunswick in 2009.

COMMENDATION FOR BRAVE CONDUCT

• Gianfelice Fonte and Muhammad Usman: The pair rescued a woman hanging from a Southbank balcony in May 2016, dragging her to safety.

• William James Slatterie: The 13-year-old last year rescued a woman and three children, who were at risk of drowning at Thompson’s Beach near Cobram.

• Christopher Alan Ganley: Mr Ganley tackled a man armed with an iron bar who was threatening staffing during an armed robbery at a Nunawading pharmacy in April 2016.

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