THE PRO PATRIA PROJECT

CORLEY Nicolas Warren

Constable, New Zealand Police

CITATION

New Zealand Bravery Medal

Special Honours List - 2 April 2011

At 2.15 a.m. on 23 August 2008 Constable Nicolas Corley was working a night shift from the Mount Wellington Police Station with another officer, when a car containing two passengers was seen speeding along Rockfield Road in Oranga.  The driver lost control of the vehicle and collided with a power pole, fences, and parked vehicles along Rockfield Road before coming to rest.  The fuel tank ruptured and the car was engulfed in flames. The passenger was able to escape, but the driver was injured and trapped in the wreckage.  Constable Corley, who was transporting an arrested person to the Auckland Central Police Station, came across the crash site, by which time the wrecked vehicle was completely ablaze.  Without hesitation, Constable Corley ran to the vehicle and, at great risk to himself, pulled the driver from it.  In doing so, he sustained burns to his arms and the left side of his face.  The driver of the car sustained burns and serious neck and head injuries.  The entire passenger compartment of the car was gutted by the fire and provided a graphic illustration of what the driver's fate would have been had Constable Corley not intervened.  Constable Corley's bravery and quick action in pulling the trapped driver from the wreckage at the risk of his own life saved the driver's life.

KNOWN AWARDS

New Zealand Bravery Medal

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