Melbourne is still reeling from the aftermath of last Friday’s horrific Bourke Street attack, which claimed the lives of five people and injured another 30.
The response from the city and Australia at large has been phenomenal, with Bourke Street being turning into a floral memorial to the victims and the Andrews government launching a Bourke Street Fund to assist the victims’ families.
But on a much smaller scale, a Melbourne local known only as ‘Lou‘ is being praised as a hero for stepping up in the immediate aftermath of the attack.
According to a viral Facebook post from local Henry Dow, Lou – a taxi driver who happened to be driving past – leapt out of his car and ran to help, taking charge of the situation and organising bystanders to attend to the injured.
“I write this not for sympathy (I’m fine); I just wanted to share a story that otherwise might be lost,” Dow said, posting a screenshot from Seven News‘ coverage.
“Administering first aid with me, under that skinny little tree, is a man named Lou: he is everything great and courageous you have seen, heard or read, rolled into one authentically humble bloke.
“Having seen the car fly past, my legs carried me across the street almost on auto-pilot, swearing under my breath repeatedly as it sunk in what had just happened. Some basic Surf Life Saving training got me through the first stages of helping this poor woman: role her on her side, support her neck, we talked kindly and as calmly as we could to her.
“Then the gunshots.
“Holding her head, my hand was, for want of a better word, shaking. It was more like bouncing, moving several inches up and down as the fear and thoughts of what had happened, what could happen, raced through my head.
“Lou grabbed my hand and firmly told me to keep it together, that I was ok and that we needed to keep strong for this woman.
“In a level and loud voice, Lou barked orders at other pedestrians standing by, having not fled, but still too stunned to think or move.
“He directed assistance to several of the victims laying on the pavement around us, all whilst keeping me calm and speaking lovingly to this woman: “I am Lou, you are going to be ok, we are looking after you”.
“It kept going through my head, “thank f**k I lucked out and have an emergency services veteran here with me”. Surely Lou was Ambulance, Police or SAS. Lou was not.
“Lou, in his white shirt and neat dark tie, was a taxi driver.
“In our small story, of this much bigger tragedy, Lou took command and was a genuine hero.”
Dow called on Australians to see the love and kindness shown by Melbourne in the wake of the incident, instead of the horrific attack itself.
“There was no evil on Bourke street yesterday; one sick young man did a terrible thing, and hundreds responded with the love and sense of community that makes Melbourne such a beautiful city, and Victoria such a great State.
“There was only kindness in the voices of the police who came to relieve us.
“I felt only love when an older man hugged me, having just told a father he had lost a daughter.
“Many images and sounds will stay with me much longer than I might like, but I am glad to have seen, and hope I never forget, just how brave and loving strangers can be.”
At the time of publishing, Dow’s Facebook post had been shared 14,000 times.
You can read it in full below.
A vigil will be held at Bourke Street tonight at 5:30pm in honour of the victims.
