Muharrem Popaj receives a bravery award from the Governor of Victoria, Alex Chernov. 77420 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
By XAVIER SMERDON
A HERO from Wyndham has been recognised for his bravery after he stopped a distressed woman from jumping off the Bolte Bridge.
Muharrem “Tony” Popaj received a Bravery Award from the Royal Humane Society of Australia on Friday at a formal ceremony in the city.
Mr Popaj was driving home from work on 19 January 2010 when he noticed a car had pulled over and had its hazard lights on.
He stopped to see what was going on and immediately realised a woman was about to commit suicide.
Along with another passerby, Jan Groenen, Mr Popaj approached the woman, who was holding a butcher’s knife and had already cut her wrists.
“We were trying to keep her calm and we tried to speak to her,” Mr Popaj told Star.
“We told her that we were here to help her but she was just screaming and telling us not to come any closer.”
After around 20 minutes the Wyndham Vale father managed to quickly grab the woman’s arm, take the knife from her and hold her down to the ground until police arrived.
Mr Popaj said he did not think of himself as a hero.
“When you see someone in trouble like that you can’t just walk away, for the normal person it doesn’t make sense,” he said.
“If you compare me with people who are dying for Australia, I’m no hero at all.”
The award was extra sweet for Mr Popaj as it came just days after his 12th anniversary of moving to Australia from Kosovo.
