It’s no big drama, says fire rescue hero
Published: May 26, 2006
A funny thing happened to Alastair Dickie on his way to Wellington – he saved a child’s life.
Not that he was any stranger to such antics. Mr Dickie is the officer-in-charge of the Mosgiel police station, near Dunedin. But he was not on duty in the early hours of Wednesday morning when his 28 years of experience were called on.
Mr Dickie was travelling to Wellington to attend his son Logan’s graduation from the Royal New Zealand Police College. He was staying in a second-storey motel unit at Meadow Park Holiday Park, Christchurch, when he heard someone yelling that there was a fire. “My partner thought it was someone having us on, or who was drunk, but I smelled smoke so I went downstairs and found a unit on fire.”
Some people were trying to put the fire out with a hose, and Mr Dickie, a former volunteer firefighter, who was dressed in a T-shirt and jeans but was barefoot, was initially cautious. Then he heard a child yelling out, “Help me, help me.”
“Eventually I got sick of listening to him, someone stuck a sheet in my mouth and I went for it. I ended up in the toilet.”
But he could still hear the boy, Jordan Puku, 10, talking. Mr Dickie found him all but unconscious on a bedroom floor, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, and dragged him out.
His actions saved Jordan’s life, but Mr Dickie was a modest southern man yesterday.
“It’s no big drama really. It’s something that had to be done and it’s just something you do. I didn’t want to see a boy die.”
Mr Dickie did not escape unscathed. One of his feet was cut, an arm was burned and he had inhaled smoke. He was taken to Christchurch Hospital in the same ambulance as Jordan, who had regained consciousness and thanked his rescuer.
The news is not as good for Jordan’s mother, Elaine Puku, 46. She remains in intensive care at Christchurch Hospital, with second-degree burns.
Jordan’s father, Malcolm Puku, 47, and brothers Jeremy, 17, and Matthew, 10, all suffered burns, smoke inhalation and cuts, but were discharged from hospital.
The holiday park is being investigated. None of its units was fitted with a smoke alarm.
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