A barber who rushed out of his shop to help Australian MP Helen Haines after she was allegedly deliberately mowed down by a car has refused to be called a hero.
Ricky Jefferies was at his shop when the independent MP for the Victoria division of Indi was reportedly struck twice outside her electorate office by a driver in a Toyota LandCruiser on Monday. Haines remains in a critical condition and has lost a leg after being airlifted to Alfred hospital in Melbourne. Surgeons are understood to be working to save her other leg.
Barber's account of the incident
Jefferies said he had "no choice" other than to rush over to help Haines. "I don't want to be known as a hero," he repeatedly told reporters who surrounded him.
He said he had just finished cutting a client's hair when the car struck Haines at about 4pm. After hearing a loud crash, he ran out to help.
"A lot of people got involved immediately, and they didn't even check the danger," he said, reports The Guardian. "They just ran to help. The driver was still in the car, the car was still on, and...on man sat in front of the moving car. I had no choice but to take him out of the car because it was the right and safest thing to do."
Witnesses and suspect details
Witnesses said they saw a driver perform a U-turn before striking Haines and then reversing and hitting her a second time. Jefferies said he held the driver down after getting him out of the vehicle.
The barber said he told the man he couldn't leave but then told him he would be alright, in an attempt to calm him down. The suspect also allegedly had a knife on him at the time.
"He did have a knife," Jefferies claimed. "He didn't pull it out. Basically just...took it out of his pocket and threw it away."
Return to work and reaction
Jefferies has since returned to work cutting hair as of 7am today (local time) and said he did not think about the risk, only that his wife might be upset should he get injured. He added: "I just thought my wife will be disappointed if I'm injured."
"My family is everything, and my community is second to that. I was just trying to not get injured and not let anyone else be injured after the initial incident."
A man has been arrested in connection with the ramming attack. Following the attack, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters the attack appeared to have been "deliberate". He added: "She is fiercely intelligent but most importantly she is just a thoroughly decent human being full of integrity and respected right across the Parliament and from everyone who comes into contact with her."
