Humble hero nominated fro bravery award

Alex de Vos
A Geelong chef who stopped a man dressed only in his underwear from beating an elderly woman to death has been nominated for a national bravery award.
Geelong West’s Stewart Atchison said he was holidaying with his family in Queensland last year when he noticed a man “savagely” attacking the woman on a boardwalk.
Mr Atchison said he immediately ran to her aid before wrestling the attacker to the ground.
“I held him down for 40 minutes until the police arrived,” Mr Atchison said.
“The man kept yelling out that he was going to kill the lady.”
Mr Atchison described the unprovoked assault as the most “horrific” incident he had encountered.
“The lady suffered a broken nose, two fractured eye sockets and other injuries – they (authorities) said that if she was punched once more she would have been killed.”
Mr Atchison believed that the man was under the influence of drugs.
“The lady was just walking along the boardwalk when the man attacked her – it was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Mr Atchison was “quite surprised” with his nomination for an Australian Commendation for Brave Conduct award.
“I just saw that the lady needed help – it could have been my mother being attacked,” he said.
“I would hope someone would do the same thing for me if I was in trouble.”
Mr Atchison said he was unaware of his nomination until he received a phone call earlier this year.
“I have no idea who nominated me,” he said.
“I didn’t really think much of it at the time I know I’m no hero.”