As 13-year-old Trinity Bennett watched her mother's car slide over the edge of a cliff and down a 50 metre embankment, she knew she had to keep a cool head.
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With a triple zero operator on the other end of a mobile phone, the year 7 student used her spare hand to scramble down the incline to where she could see the wrecked car on its roof and her mother Shannon's feet sticking out a window.
"It felt like it was an action movie unravelling right in front of me," Trinity, now 17, said of the October 2017 emergency.
Mother and daughter had been driving near Buchan, about 350km east of Melbourne, when Shannon saw a sign for a cave lookout and fancied a closer look.
It had been raining in the days beforehand and the road edges were soft. During the U-turn the earth gave way.
"I told Trinity to get out of the car," Shannon said, recalling the car sliding towards the sheer drop.
Instinctively continuing to brake, Shannon quickly disappeared over the edge.
"I didn't want to panic," Trinity said.
"Something in my head was telling me: 'She's fine', I just felt that mum would still be OK."
Luckily for the pair, members of ambulance, police and fire services, plus the SES were participating in a nearby training exercise that Friday and help was quickly on hand.
"She saved my life," Shannon said of her daughter.
After being rushed by helicopter to hospital in Melbourne, Shannon was treated for critical injuries including a torn aorta and broken arm that nearly required amputation.
Shannon spent a fortnight in hospital and needed 12 months of treatment.
For her efforts that day, Trinity is one of 48 people receiving an Australian Bravery Decoration in 2021.
"In a dangerous situation each recipient was brave, selfless and put their own safety at risk to help someone else," Governor-General David Hurley said of the recipients, who were named late on Tuesday.
Trinity is one of 31 people to receive a Commendation for Brave Conduct.
Ten people were awarded a Bravery Medal, and 11 were part of a Group Bravery Citation.
Medal recipients included police and ambulance officers, and an army sergeant, who responded to a range of maritime and fire rescues.
Australian Associated Press
