A barber who took a knife from the pocket of the man arrested after Australian MP Dr Helen Haines was run down outside her office says he was simply in the right place.
Haines, the independent member for Indi in north-east Victoria, was critically injured after she was struck by a car outside her electoral office in Wangaratta on Monday.
Australian Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the driver reversed, hitting the 65-year-old a second time before a bystander ran towards the car to remove the driver. A 43-year-old man was arrested at the scene of the incident.
Wangaratta barber Ricky Jefferies, whose shop faces the spot where Haines was struck, told media on Tuesday he heard the crash before he saw anything.
“I didn’t realise the seriousness of the situation initially, and once it became relevant, I just did what I could and what others were already trying to do.”
He said the driver had a knife but never drew it.
“He didn’t pull it out. I just wasn’t comfortable with his movements, and so I basically just took it out of his pocket and threw it away.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other politicians from across the spectrum have called him a hero, but Jefferies says he was simply in the right place.
“I don’t think I’m a hero. I think that I just was a person who had an opportunity to intervene in a safe-ish sort of way.”
1News Australia correspondent Jacob Johnson has the latest on the attack on independent MP Helen Haines in Wangaratta. (Source: Breakfast)
Jeffries said he was "humbled" by the praise and thanks he had received but insisted others also played their part.
"They did so much more than me…the other people here, they deserve the credit."
He said it was hard to discuss the incident because of the tight-knit nature of the community.
"You know everyone here. The first people on the scene were people I know. The first police [officers], I cut their hair, the first firies, I cut their hair, first ambos, I cut their hair."
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, including an Australian MP is attacked with a car, rare footage of the world’s second largest animal, and the couple going viral for dining during a riot. (Source: 1News)
SHARE ME