10-year-old Ollie Brunskill was home sick from school on Friday last week when a fire broke out in his family’s Prospect Vale kitchen.
In the chaos, the boy his mum describes as “a little bit chaotic sometimes” became the calmest person in the house.
Ollie, who has level two autism and ADHD, walked up to his mother Stacey Brunskill and told her the kitchen was on fire.
The blaze started after a cluttered hotplate was accidentally bumped on while Brunskill was putting a load of washing on.
She was able to hold the fire at bay with a fire blanket, stopping it spreading past the kitchen.
“The fact that he was able to calmly come and articulate that to me was pretty bloody special,” Brunskill told Pulse.
She then asked him to get his 16-month-old sister Nora to safety. He did exactly that, carrying her to a neighbour’s house and staying with her the whole time.
Nora was born two months early and has Down syndrome, Brunskill said, making her even more vulnerable.
When his grandmother later asked how he stayed so calm during something so frightening, Ollie had a ‘typically Ollie’ answer.
“I had to stay calm so my mum would stay calm and so I didn’t panic and drop Nora like this,” he said, before dropping a book club catalogue on the ground to demonstrate.
The day before the fire, Ollie had dressed as Link from The Legend of Zelda for Book Week at Summerdale Primary School.
He told friends to imagine being their characters in real life. Less than 24 hours later, he was.
On Wednesday, Ollie was called forward at a school assembly to receive a letter of recognition from Liberal MLC Jo Palmer, who was unable to attend due to parliamentary commitments.
He also received a letter from Launceston mayor Matthew Garwood, along with two pins. One was a City of Launceston pin to replace one lost in the fire.
“He’s feeling very proud,” Brunskill said. “Very overwhelmed.”
The kitchen suffered heavy damage and soot spread through the entire home.
Brunskill said she wanted to raise awareness about fire safety, urging people to keep a fire blanket and extinguisher at home.
She said the recognition for Ollie and the safety message mattered to her in equal measure.
“A $30 item, that’s a necessity,” she said. “I can tell you that I’m grateful that I had it there.”
