2008 - Constable Nicolas Warren Corley

Saving a driver trapped in a burning car, Oranga Tāmaki Makaurau, 23 August 2008

NCZ605 Constable Nicolas Warren Corley
The New Zealand Bravery Medal

At 0215 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 the 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.

When Constable Corley, who was transporting an arrested person to the Auckland Central Police Station, came across the crash site, 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, risking his own life while saving the driver, was in the highest traditions of New Zealand Police.