Posted on 10/29/2009 7:01:11 PM PDT by naturalman1975
AN eight-year-old boy has been hailed a hero after he hot-wired a two-way radio to call for help as his dad lay trapped in the wreckage of a horror truck rollover.
Michael Bowron stripped the radio wires and connected them to a spare battery he found among the wreckage.
Yesterday, the Bonnie Rock youngster told The Sunday Times his fingers burned from sparks flying off the battery while he desperately called for help.
"I was scared, but I was trying to be brave," Michael said. "My dad had heaps of blood on his face and heaps on his leg.
"I had heaps on my leg too, but not as much as my dad."
Michael and his father, Justin, were driving home to the family farm in a prime mover truck on Saturday, October 10, when a tyre blew.
"It blew on the left-hand side of the truck and the right-hand side swung around," Mr Bowron said. "The truck was heading straight into a bush and I tried to correct the steering wheel.
"When I did that, it tipped over. The last thing I remember was the driver's side hitting the ground."
He regained consciousness minutes later to find himself wedged between the steering wheel and the dashboard.
His leg was caught in the mangled truck, trapping him in the vehicle.
Glass covered him and blood was pouring from his head.
"Diesel was leaking from the truck and the engine was still running," Mr Bowron said. "I was worried it was going to burst into flames.
"I couldn't find my mobile phone and the two-way radio had been thrown out of the truck."
Michael, who had been sitting in the sleeper cabin, crawled out of the wreck through the windscreen and tried to free his dad with a tyre lever.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
Nice story. Smart lad.
Aussies are tough folks. Good on them.
Man I haven’t heard the term Prime Mover used since WWII when it referred to a lowboy hauling tanks or dozers...
Would you look at that truck? How did ANYone walk away from that!
I believe Americans use ‘tractor unit’ or ‘road tractor’ for what Australians call a ‘prime mover’ - the vehicle used to haul semi-trailers.
God sent an angel to watch over these two.
Bless them.
A great example of how traditional hands-on hobbies like ham radio teach how to apply technology even under difficult circumstances. This young man has gained experience that would never be learned in a lifetime of playing video games or sending text messages through a few million dollars worth of cell towers...
I’m not sure it wasn’t a Lowboy?
What a great young man!
Nice story.
After some research it looks like you are right. Here is one question... do all wheels turn counter clock wise south of the Equator or just the front...
Dad did an excellent job showing his son the basics. Eight years old and getting it right is quite a feat. (especially under duress)
Good kid!
When moving forward, just those viewed from the left side...
That sounds more like it. It’s been awhile since I took welding...
personally I just use truck which always confused my family til they figured out the when I spoke about my small (1 ton) one I use (always) the term pickup.
Truck
Pickup
...well done lad!.....after reading thru this story it sounds like they were really in a remote area...Outback maybe?
Now we've got a generation of Sean Penn's and David Effing Axlerods.
Helpless, preening, scheming parasites of the lowest order. This is called "ripe for extinction".
Ah ah. There are American men who have raised some of the finest and bravest. Our military boys.
This kid is MacGuyver. :)
Three bedrooms and 2 baths?
Thanks for posting. Cute kid. He’d probably be suspended from school in this country for hot wiring anything. (sarc/off)
In the US, the kid would be suspended from school for using a knife to strip the wires.
I call all passenger vehicles including pickups “cars”. Trucks are semis.
30°32'9.13"S 118°21'55.25"E will get you there on GoogleEarth
that works too.
I go insane when I hear the local news talk about a truck driver running through a light and injuring four people, just to find out at the end of the report, he did it in his Toyota Tundra...
bump
This (mature-beyond-his-years) Aussie kid deserves an interview
on the two prime American overnight radio shows for our trucking
industry workers.
I live in Columbia, MO and have abandoned the overnight CR-P on
my local stations to pick up AM770 out of Cincinnati and 820AM out
of Ft. Worth/Dallas...no matter that the signal drifts a fair bit
on my little SONY personal radio.
1. Overnight truckers’ show on “The Big One”
on 700AM WLW out of Cincinnati, OH
http://www.700wlw.com/main.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WLW
2. The Midnight Trucking Radio Network on WBAP 820AM
network out of the Ft. Worth/Dallas TX Metroplex
http://www.wbap.com/showdj.asp?DJID=10117
Midgnight Trucking Network
http://www.wbap.com/goout.asp?u=http://www.midnighttrucking.com/
The Midnight Trucking Radio Network is the most popular national
radio show dedicated to Truckers. Syndicated nationwide,
The Midnight Trucking Radio Network, reaches 100% of the
United States, and covers 80% of Canada and 85% of Mexico.
next time bring the duct tape kid, it will stick the wires to the battery posts without your having to hold them there
Awesome kid.
Give that kid a Foster’s. He’s earned it.
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