Tradie on smoko saves woman from falling off 38th floor balcony
A Gold Coast tradie has become a hero on his smoko break after saving a woman from falling 38 storeys from a high-rise building.
Darryn Marshall was installing a kitchen in the high-rise apartment when he saw a woman hanging over the balcony, about to fall from the 38th floor.
This hero in hi-vis was in the right place at the right time.
“Split second mate – split second she was gone,” he said.
He was on his smoko break on the 38th floor of the Southport Central building when he saw the woman on the balcony moments from toppling over the edge.
“She was gone, both arms, belly, leg, body – gone until I grabbed her leg and one of her shoulders from over the side and rolled her back onto the balcony,” he said.
Mr Marshall later learned he saved a 25-year-old woman with Down Syndrome, who had walked away from her carers, taken a lift to the 38th floor and wandered into the apartment Mr Marshall was working on.
Senior Sergeant Brendan Wiblen said he did not think the woman understood the danger she had put herself in and Mr Marshall said “she had no clue what she was doing”.
“Thirty-eight storeys up, climbing on the railing – yeah, pretty scary,” Mr Marshall said.
The tradie’s brave actions haven’t gone unnoticed. Police have nominated Mr Marshall for a bravery award for risking his life to save the 25-year-old stranger.
“We think Darryn showed exceptional courage,” Sen-Sgt Wiblen said.
“Rescuing someone he’d never seen before who would have undoubtedly fallen and died if not for his actions.”
But Mr Marshall claims there was nothing brave about it.
“I just had to do what I had to do, I was the only person up there,” he said.
