A young man has been nominated for a bravery award after rescuing an elderly man from a house fire on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Riley Seccull, 15, was at his grandmother's house riding a bike when he noticed a smoke alarm going off at a house in Brown Hill.
"I went to Grandma and said the smoke alarm's going off, there's smoke coming out of the house - I pointed to the house and I ran down," he said.
"A lady came running out saying "my husband's in there, and there's a fire".
"I went straight in there."
After running through several rooms, he found the man in the kitchen extinguishing the fire, and already severely burned.
"I said come on mate, we've got to get out, he said he was worried about his wife - I said his wife was outside," he said.
"I brought him outside, and gave him my singlet because he was struggling, then we sat him down outside, gave him some fresh air."
Mr Seccull had given his grandmother his phone, and she was talking to operators as he emerged from the house.
They instructed Mr Seccull to begin performing CPR on the elderly man, just as paramedics and emergency services arrived.
Despite working for 45 minutes to revive him, the elderly man died later in hospital.
Ballarat police Sergeant Chris Taylor said he was first on the scene, and later nominated Mr Seccull for the Governor-General's award.
"Our concern was that there was possibly still a fire at the address, and we've got multiple victims from the actual victims and young Riley and another neighbour with smoke inhalation," he said.
"Riley needs to be recognised for his actions on the day, and that's why I've nominated him for the award - it's a brave and courageous act by going into smoke-filled house, the room's on fire, he doesn't know the premises.
"He's gone in and put his own safety in jeopardy to save someone else - he's put his own life at risk to save another."
Mr Seccull said he's "shocked" by the nomination, and is considering a career as a paramedic.
Have you signed up to The Courier's variety of news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.