8 hours ago
Paramedic who rescued farmer trapped in grain silo receives highest honour
Vaughan Mason will never forget the triple-0 call that led him to be standing in a silo, frantically scooping grain by hand and using a piece of poly pipe as a makeshift breathing tube to keep a trapped farmer alive.
He was the lone paramedic dispatched to a property on the outskirts of Baralaba in central Queensland after a man became trapped in a grain silo in February 2023.
Mr Mason was part of a small group of rescuers desperately trying to save grain grower John Lawson.
Mr Lawson had stepped into the silo to help release the grain, not realising there was a void underneath.
He was quickly buried above his neck.
"I could imagine if you're drowning in water, it'd be much the same," Mr Lawson recalled.
"A lot of things go through your mind, and you think to yourself, 'Hey, Jesus, this might be it.'"
For the first time since the accident, Mr Lawson has reunited with the paramedic who helped save his life.
It was an emotional moment for the pair as they stood on the property where it happened, reflecting on how close it came to tragedy.
"It's a very, very humbling moment, and it just cements [the fact that] I don't want to think that what we do is in vain."
Mr Mason, who is the Baralaba officer in charge, recently received an Australian Service Medal at Government House in Brisbane.
The Ambulance Service Medal is the highest recognition a paramedic can receive.
The award recognised his service to the Baralaba community, including the grain silo rescue.
Gwen Tennent works as a nurse at the Baralaba Multipurpose Health Service.
In the small town of about 300 people, she wears a few hats — she is also the president of the Local Ambulance Committee and a volunteer emergency driver.
She works closely with Mr Mason and said his presence had become a reassuring constant in the community.
"He's very important here, people, they just take to him. I don't think it'd be the same [here] if they had a different officer in charge," Ms Tennent said.
"The people really like Vaughan here."
She said Mr Mason often went above and beyond the normal call of duty.
"He does so much that we don't see … he's always teaching when he's on his days off, and he doesn't know how to say no," she said.
Mr Mason runs regular community education sessions on the banks of the Baralaba River and is passionate about building community resilience.
"There's an older couple next door, he goes in there just to see if they're OK," Ms Tennent said.
"They're in their 90s and he'll try and fix whatever they need — if they need a meal, he'll go and get it for them."
More than five years ago, he taught a Victorian grey nomad CPR and how to use a defibrillator when he was visiting the town.
When the man returned home, more than 1,900 kilometres away, he used that training to save a woman's life at a bingo event.
Mr Mason said the community's response to his award was heartwarming.
Mr Lawson, who is a lifelong volunteer in Baralaba's ambulance committee, said Mr Mason was an asset to the town.
"The training that he does with people is fantastic, the communications that he's got with the public is great," he said.
"I could rattle on all day, but no, he's a good bloke."
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