Life-saving Siblings: ‘My Friends Said I Was A Hero'

The Quick Thinking Of His Brother And Sister Saved Samuel’s Life

- Emma Levett

Life can change in an instant. One moment you’re shouting at your kids and thinking about what’s for dinner. The next you can be in a life-or-death situation. It’s something 44-year-old, mum-of-three Rebecca Whiley discovered in March, when her son Samuel did something many kids before him have tried.

“We got to the garage at our apartment block and the garage door, which is usually open, had just gone down for the evening,” Rebecca tells New Idea. “I was about to park on the street when my kids said they’d run inside and open it for me.”

Samuel, 10, and Jessica, 7, jumped out while Rebecca’s eldest son, William, 12, remained in the car.

As the door rolled open Rebecca, from Davidson in NSW, drove through and parked. But just as she was getting her things together to go upstairs she heard screams. “Jessica was yelling and looking up I immediately saw what was happening,” Rebecca says.

Samuel was lying on the ground underneath the huge, industrial garage door. Unable to detect his presence it was still trying to close, trapping and crushing Samuel’s body in the process.

“I just dropped my bag and ran,” Rebecca says. “It was the most horrific sight. I put my hands under the door trying to lift it, or stop it but it made no difference. I was yelling for help and for an ambulance.”

Samuel was lying on his right side, as the door pressed down on him. His eyes were open but he wasn’t responding and Rebecca says he was going bright red and, horrifically, his eyes were bulging.