Fastway Courier saves a young life

1 March, 2012

Fastway Courier saves a young life

One of Fastway Couriers' Transport Linehaul contractors, Dennis Roderick, was involved in an outstanding act of bravery, saving the life of a toddler who wandered into the middle of the State Highway 1 near Plimmerton yesterday morning.

Roderick, a Fastway veteran of 16 years, was on his way to the Lower Hutt, Wellington depot in his Fastway-branded b-train truck when he spotted a toddler, wearing only a nappy and a singlet, ambling down the middle of the four lane highway.

Roderick says the boy simply "appeared in front of him" several hundred metres away from the Plimmerton roundabout, at about 10:30am.

"I slammed on my brakes and used my truck to block the outside lane to stop other cars from zooming past. I jumped out, grabbed the child and ran to the foot path."

Shortly after, a woman came out of a nearby property looking stunned, Roderick says.

"I asked who the child belonged to and the woman replied she hadn’t realised her child strayed out of the property. I handed the boy, who couldn't have been older than 16 months, back to his mother and got back into my truck as I was holding up traffic," says Roderick.

Arthur Campbell, General Manager Transport Linehaul Ltd., says he has worked with Roderick for three years, and noted that he was an exceptionally experienced and affable driver.

"Dennis’ actions today do not surprise me at all. His quick thinking and lack of concern for his own wellbeing saved this child’s life," says Campbell.

Fastway Couriers New Zealand Chief Executive, Bruce Speers, says Roderick will be commended by the company for his actions.

"A one-year old walked into the middle of an extremely busy highway and (Roderick) pulled his b-train truck over in the process protecting the child from oncoming cars, and quickly picked the child up and took him to safety. It's a remarkable story and Dennis is by far our star of the month," says Speers.

"On behalf of everyone at Fastway, I'd like to celebrate Dennis' act of bravery and thank him for averting what could have been a terrible tragedy."

The mother of the child was not approached for comment.

About Fastway:

Established in New Zealand in 1983, Fastway Couriers currently has some 1,200 franchisees and 100 regional depots across Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Northern Ireland and South Africa. To this day, the franchise remains true to its Kiwi heritage, with both its New Zealand Franchise Support office and Global office based in Hawke's Bay.

Through its industry-leading franchise system, the organisation has developed a reputation for providing a fast, friendly and cost-effective service to its customers – an achievement which has seen it receive more than 45 major industry accolades, including the Westpac NZ Franchise Awards 2010/2011 in both the Master Franchisee and Business Services categories.

ENDS

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