'Everyday hero' mechanics save trapped woman, receive SCDF Public-Spiritedness Award

Mr Liaw Chan Wah, a vehicle mechanic at Beng Heng Tyres and Batteries Service, was washing his hands and getting ready to go for lunch at around 12:50p.m. on 1 March 2011 when he heard his boss’ wife calling for him from outside the workshop.

She saw a minibus collide with a woman in her 50s and a motorcycle near their workshop at Sin Ming Drive.

She asked him to help the victim, who was trapped under the front right wheel of the minibus.

Mr Liaw, 35, arrived at the accident scene to see more than 10 people trying to lift the bus.

The bus refused to budge.

The woman whose right arm and chest were pinned down by the bus was struggling to breathe.

Her face was turning bluish-black.

Mr Liaw knew he had to do something.

So Mr Liaw, with 13 years of experience as a mechanic, grabbed a vehicle jack from his workplace and used it to try and lift the bus.

The single jack could not lift the bus high enough to free the trapped victim, so Mr Liew called his colleague Mr Ho See How, 26, to help.

Mr Ho got a bigger jack from the workshop. With the second jack, both of them managed to lift the bus high enough to free the woman.

The woman, who suffered rib fractures and abrasions on her limbs, was rushed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital by the Singapore Civil Defence Force’s (SCDF) ambulance.

Mr Ho said: “We were quite surprised to receive this award since this is the first time that we had done something like this. When we saw so many people helping the victim we just rushed to help too.”

1^st Civil Defence (CD) Division’s Head of Operations Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) Ling Young Ern said: “Mr Ho and Mr Liaw had been very proactive in using their skills, what they know as mechanics, to help this person who was trapped under the vehicle. And in doing so, they have enabled the victim to have a higher chance of survival."

ORIGINAL SOURCE