When Zac Kemp woke up for school on Tuesday, August 16, he believed it was going to be just like any other day.
Within just a few hours, he was rescuing an elderly couple from their smoking car.
“I was more scared of mum finding out I was late for school than I was of the burning car.” – Zac Kemp.
Liz and Eric Tabuteau were travelling along Macalister Street in Sale around 9am last Tuesday, when smoke began to exude from the bonnet of their grey Mercedes-Benz.
As the driver pulled over in front of Sale Health and Fitness, 18-year-old Zachary Kemp noticed the smoking vehicle.
“I got dropped off by mum and was walking to my class in the library when I noticed this smoking car pull over,” Zac said.
“The driver opened the door, and the bloke had no legs, he had prosthetics, and that’s when I ran over.”
Zac and his friend Sharni Fehst, another Sale College student, sprinted across Macallister Street toward the smoking Benz.
“As we got there, I told Sharni to call the fire brigade,” Zac said.
“Then I, not pulled the driver out, but helped him out of the car.
“I ran to the other side of the car and helped the lady and her dog out and away from the car.”
As Zac stood with Liz and Eric Tabuteau, ensuring the couple were okay, a concerned citizen pulled over and approached the scene, and that is when the Year 12 student noticed heat bubbles forming on the car’s bonnet through the black smoke spewing from the vehicle.
Zac and the concerned citizen wrestled the bonnet open.
“It was a struggle; it was really hot!” Zac said.
“But we got it open.”
In three, two, one: flames engulfed the car.
“We didn’t know what happened,” Zac exclaimed.
“It just went up in flames.
“As the man who helped me open the bonnet was trying to put out the fire with these little extinguishers, I went over to the lady (Liz Tabuteau) to see if she was okay and ask if she needed any more help, and she said she left her bag on the front seat.”
Zac Kemp pulled the sleeve of his school jumper over his hands, disappearing into the smoke and flames.
“I opened the door, but I couldn’t really see anything,” Zac said.
“So it took me a second to find it.
“I was kind of scared the car was going to blow up, but I just really wanted to get the lady’s bag for her.”
After successfully retrieving Mrs Tabuteau’s bag from the passenger seat of the burning car, Zac returned to school.
“My uncle, who works around the corner, had come over and, before I went back to school, told me to call my mum because of the poison in the smoke,” Zac said.
The young hero finally made it to school feeling worse for wear.
“I felt really sick,” he said.
Abby Kemp raced to Sale College following a call from her son and the school, a mother in two minds; worry and pride.
“Our boy put his own safety behind that of an older couple who were in quite the pickle and helped them to safety,” she said.
“I was so worried, but I love and am so proud of Zac’s kind heart. Very proud parents here.”
Zac was admitted to Sale Hospital, where he was put on oxygen and underwent thorough blood tests.
“I was there for a while, and they put me on oxygen,” he explained.
“And I got a lot of needles.
“But I am okay!
“I did stink really bad though, from all the gas and stuff.
“My school jumper was completely white from the chemical ash; it was like dust.
“I was wearing these red and black shoes, and they were completely white; it was all over my pants.
“It was all over everything, and I just stunk so bad.”
After some medical assistance and TLC from mum, Zac was able to go home following an eventful Tuesday morning, which could have easily had a very different, very dire outcome.
“I was shaken up afterwards because I realised I could have died,” Zac said.
“I think I put my life at risk the most getting the lady’s bag, but I just wanted to help.
“I really didn’t want to be late to school, so once I had done what I needed to do, I walked up to the man (Eric Tabuteau) and said, ‘I am so sorry about your car mate, is there anything else I can do?’
“He reached out, grabbed me by my hand, put his other hand over the top of my hand and squeezed it.
“Then he said thank you so much, and I told him it was alright, that I was just doing what I thought was right.
“I didn’t want any reward or praise or anything like that; I didn’t do it for the attention; I really wanted to help them, and their thanks you was more than enough for me.”
