How McGowan saved man's life

It is a story that has become the stuff of political legend: a year before he entered Parliament, Mark McGowan pulled an unconscious man from the wreck of a burning car and saved his life.

The future Labor leader was later awarded a commendation for bravery by Governor-General William Deane but few details of the incident have been widely known before now.

With Mr McGowan's official elevation to Labor's top job last week, the oft-cited incident - which he calls one of the key events that defined him - has come under renewed focus.

Yesterday, the navy officer who was by his side revealed for the first time what happened, saying the new Labor leader made the "dumb but brave" decision to risk his life for a stranger.

Jeremy Prentice, a fellow navy officer, said he had urged Mr McGowan not to enter the burning car but his friend had "acted on instinct".

It was September 18, 1995, when the two navy lawyers were driving to a black tie function at RAAF's Pearce base and saw a car in front of them lose control and burst into flames.

"It must have hit something," Mr Prentice recalled yesterday.

"I don't know what it hit but it looked like one of those Starsky and Hutch episodes where there is a big explosion and a big ball of flame goes up into the air.

"It took off the opposite side of the road and went up this embankment and started a grass fire."

The pair were the first to reach the car, by now engulfed in flames. The driver was unconscious with his upper body slumped over the back seat and his legs tangled in the seatbelt.

Both front doors were jammed. The pair, dressed in tuxedos for the military event that night, struggled to free him.

"We were tugging at this guy and he couldn't come out," Mr Prentice said.

"The flames were picking up and we were concerned that he was going to get cooked in the car.

"So Mark decided, against my better judgment, that he'd jump in the back of the car.

"I was going, 'Ah, mate, I don't know if that's such a good idea . . . the car feels like it's going to go up again'.

"He got the guy's legs out and we sort of dragged him out through the back passenger side door and got him away from the car and the flames."

Two years later, Mr McGowan's actions were recognised when he received a Governor-General's commendation.

He received the honour from WA Governor Michael Jeffery, who later went on to become Governor-General.

Mr McGowan said yesterday that while the event had shaken him, he did what anyone would have done.

'Ah, mate, I don't know if that's a good idea, the car feels like it's going to go up.'"What * Jeremy Prentice *told * Mark McGowan *