JASON Kneebone is a self-confessed rev-head, but the Seville East resident says his perception of driving changed dramatically when he witnessed a fatal crash.
Heading home from a race meet at Winton on 3 May, 2009, Jason and his mate Matt shook their heads at a car that overtook them, two other cars, and a semi-trailer driven by another friend.
It was in that split second when the driver realised he wasn’t going to make it back into the single lane on Maroondah Highway just after Merton, that many lives were changed forever.
The head-on collision resulted in a 12-year-old girl from Wodonga being raised by her grandmother after her parents and aunt died in the collision, a 23-year old driver eventually sentenced to a minimum seven years in jail and numerous onlookers left to deal with a traumatic situation until emergency services arrived.
Jason has been recognised along with six other people in a Group Bravery Citation, approved by Governor-General Quentin Bryce, for assisting victims at the collision scene.
He said he hadn’t spoken much about that day since it happened, “it was all so nasty, the car was on fire”.
“It’s one of those things that was not the nicest to see and remember,” he said.
“But we just did what we thought anybody else would do.”
His wife Rebecca said Jason was “white as a ghost” when he got home.
“Until this day none of us can believe what he did, it was a shock when we heard about the bravery award but we’re so proud of him,” she said.
Jason said he had run over to the burning car and discovered the little girl’s aunty had died, but the badly injured child was alive.
“I got her out and left her with a lady comforting her and went back to see who else was alive,” he said.
“Her mum and dad had passed away, but the grandma was still alive in the front seat.”
Emergency services crews then arrived and relieved the six volunteers on the scene.
“With the car on fire everybody was more worried and everything went quite fast,” Jason said.
“I just felt sorry for the little girl, growing up without a family is one of the hardest things someone can go through.
“One of the saddest things was that where he hit, there was a sign saying there was an overtaking lane just up ahead.”
