Faces of the CRL: Steely Ashley
Delivering the country’s largest infrastructure project takes some seriously talented people, so in this section “Faces of the CRL” we interview some of City Rail Link’s best and brightest. This month we turn the spotlight on Steely Ashley, a CRL contractor who selflessly put himself in harm’s way to help others.
The day started out as normal for Steely Ashley, digging drains and operating a digger on Albert Street – it ended with him as an unexpected hero after a dramatic save when a runaway double-decker tour bus ran over a mother and her baby.
Just after midday on Monday 13th January, Ashley heard a cracking noise – like timber splitting in half. Looking around he instantly identified the source; a large red tour bus had rolled backward into the City Rail Link worksite on the corner of Albert and Victoria Streets, coming to a halt at a temporary traffic light.
Recounting the incident, Ashley said his brain immediately kicked into auto pilot. His two colleagues ran around the back of the bus while he ran around the front - which is when he heard a toddler screaming.
“I dreaded looking under the bus because I thought I was going to see a poor kid pinned against a wheel or something," he said.
"Looked anyway, saw she was free, crawled under the bus, grabbed her, pulled her out, got out and gave her straight to St John [paramedics] who passed the baby on to the mum."
Both the mother and her toddler received minor injuries and were taken to hospital via ambulance.
CRL chief executive Dr Sean Sweeney commended the quick reaction of Ashley and his co-workers who selflessly leapt to action to help those caught up in the incident.
"Thankfully those workers had the presence of mind and the courage to immediately get over that barrier and to help make sure everyone, including the toddler caught under the bus, were safe.
“Given there was no immediate information about the safety or the stability of the bus, their actions, including crawling under the bus, were heroic," Sweeney said.