YEAR'S BRAVEST DEED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19918, 11 April 1928, Page 11

YEAR'S BRAVEST DEED.

HUMANE SOCIETY'S AWARD. The Stanhope Gold Medal of the Royal Humane Society has been awarded to Ernest T. Johnson, of Gorton, Manchester, for the bravest deed of the year, the facts being as follows: —Between 4 and 5 p.m. on December 10, 1926, two men, David Inglis and Ernest T. Johnson, were working in a trench which was being excavated in a garden near The trench was 16ft. deep, the subsoil at this depth being quicksands. Without warning the trench collapsed, partially burying Johnson, and completely burying Inglis. Johnson could easily have released himself, but realised that if he did so Inglis would have been suffocated, as ho was entirely covered, only his hair showing, and he decided, at th© risk of his own life, to remain where he was, and thus try to save his mate. He had constantly to scrape the earth away from Inglis' head, so that he could breathe, and at the same time carry the weight of the crumbling earth above, and so prevent a further collapse. Assistance was summoned, but owing to the shifting nature of the sands, it. took eight hours before the men were got out, and during this time the weight of earth Johnson was supporting forced him down to where Inglis was buried, making his position one of the greatest danger. The Salford Fire Brigade assisted the men with lifebelts, as the danger of the shifting sand rendered the work of rescue most difficult.