After securing a big victory on the track in Melbourne, a Ballarat horse trainer has spoken of his shock when confronted with a fatal collision on the Western Freeway.
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Mitch Freedman had been returning home from a big day of racing at Sandown, where one of his stable stars Bravo Tango scored a long-awaited victory.
“We were just sort of coming up to where the incident was and there were a lot of trucks and a couple of cars on the side of the road,” he said.
“We pulled over to the side of the road with the hazard lights on to let everyone know to slow down.”
A taxi van and a sedan collided head-on near Wallace just after 9.30pm, with the sedan travelling on the wrong side of the road prior to the crash.
Looking at the scene, Mr Freedman tried to remain calm. The taxi was engulfed in flames.
“I was just hoping that everyone was alright I suppose and obviously that I had to stay far enough away in case the taxi blew up,” he told The Courier.
The driver and only occupant of the one of the cars died at the scene. The driver and passenger of the taxi escaped with serious but non-life threatening injuries.
Mr Freedman, along with what he estimated to be 15-20 others, jumped into action to try and do whatever they could before emergency services got there.
“They only had one fire extinguisher on hand so we gathered a few from the trucks and were able to get that fire out,” he said.
“There was a woman still in the taxi, she wasn't trapped but stuck inside with what looked like fairly significant injuries.”
The group managed to free the woman after climbing onto of the overturned taxi and lowering a ladder in.
“The small sedan had someone trapped inside, the front of it was caved in and he was well underneath the steering wheel and a long way up into where the brakes and accelerator are.”
An off duty doctor from Ballarat Base Hospital was on the scene, treating the occupants of the taxi once they were freed.
After staying on scene for about 30 minutes, Mr Freedman got back on the road as emergency services arrived to return his horses to their stables.
Upon reflection, Mr Freedman was left with some optimism after seeing a group of strangers come together to help those in need.
“When you think of all the bad that goes on in the world these day it's good to see if there's something happening, people are willing to put themselves out there and lend a hand trying to help people out when they're in a fair bit of strife,” he said.
He by no means wants to be seen as a hero, deflecting praise towards the others on scene.
“Everyone there just wanted to help.”
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