Heroic Knight Arrives On A Shining Ski

Newcastle Herald

Wednesday June 13, 2007

By DAN PROUDMAN

TRUDGING through shoulder-deep water holding seven-month-old son Jeremiah above her head, a distraught Christina Wang knew time was running out.

It was freezing and despite bashing on doors and yelling for help along Merewether's Frederick Street, the mother-of-two had no escape from flood waters.

Enter former Newcastle Knight Ben Donaldson.

The 28-year-old had spent all day on his power ski helping with the rescue of 22 stranded sailors on the stricken coal carrier Pasha Bulker at Nobbys Beach.

But Mr Donaldson was now in the middle of another rescue he had already saved many of the 20-odd people he was to tow to safety on Friday night and this one was a matter of life and death.

"I am a GP so I know how long a baby can last in that cold and he would have died of hypothermia if Ben hadn't showed up," Dr Wang said yesterday.

"I don't think bubba would be with us if it wasn't for him."

Dr Wang had become stranded at the family's home in Merewether.

Her concerned husband, Victor, had called on the help of a good friend, Jim Lai, to use his four-wheel drive to get Dr Wang and Jeremiah to somewhere safe.

Their other son, Ethan, was safe at child care.

But as they drove down Frederick Street the darkness played against them.

"By the time we realised we could be flooded in it was already happening," Dr Wang said.

"The car started filling up and we had to get out; the water was up to our shoulders and we needed help fast because the baby was frozen and couldn't handle much more."

Once safe, Mr Donaldson took Dr Wang and Jeremiah back to his home where his heated pool was the perfect remedy for a cold baby.

The well-known Merewether identity is becoming somewhat of a moving tourist attraction on his power ski: what began as fun has turned into a business proposition.

He has been called on to help in water safety for the film Newcastle, is doing the same for a handful of high-profile surfing competitions and has the backing of several large companies.

But on Friday he was an accidental hero for a couple of dozen stranded people, his trusty power ski skimming down several of the suburb's streets as he looked for people in need.

"I reckon I could have got to The Junction on it but I never got the chance," he said last night.

© 2007 Newcastle Herald

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