Katanning woman Georgina Mills recognised with national Bravery Medal for rescuing woman from dog attack

A Katanning woman has received a national bravery honour for rushing to the rescue of a neighbour being mauled by a large dog. Georgina Mills was announced as the recipient of the Bravery Medal by Governor-General David Hurley on August 17 for putting herself in harm’s way to save a neighbour in Katanning last year. Ms Mills said she was still trying to process receiving the prestigious award, given as part of the Australian Bravery Decorations. “I don’t think it is going to hit until I actually receive it, which will be in April next year,” she said. “It was just something that I did to help out someone else.” May 19 last year started off as better-than-average day for Ms Mills. She was having a relaxing day at home for her birthday and had spent most of the early afternoon binge-watching movies. About 3.40pm, she heard a commotion in her street. “Me and my neighbour across the road both came out and shrugged our shoulders, and we were like ‘well, what is the deal? What’s going on?’” Ms Mills said. Then, a friend who lives close by pointed to a woman who was being attacked by a dog on the street. The dog had latched onto her left shoulder and was shaking her violently. “I looked down and I went ‘right, what do I do here?’,” Ms Mills said. “I’ve got no boots on, no shovel, no stick, no nothing. I thought to myself ‘OK, this is going to be interesting’.” Ms Mills kicked off her slippers and ran to the woman’s aid. “I ran down close to her, but not too close, and just staunched the dog so to speak — to say ‘I’m the better person, get off’,” she said. As a result, the dog let go of the victim. The victim was moved to safety while the dog turned its attention to Ms Mills, grabbing hold of her right arm and drawing blood. She started gouging the dog’s gums with her left hand and managed to get herself free of its jaws. But it was not long before it went in for another attack. “I looked at my arm and went ‘well, you’re not having that arm now, you’re not having my legs, have this arm,’” she said. Once again, she managed to wrench herself free of the dog, this time running back to her house. Asked whether she had found the incident traumatising, Ms Mills said she did not stop to think about it at the time. “I sort of went to another place with myself, saying ‘I’ve got to do this, I’ve got to get this dog off or she is dead’, and I wasn’t having that on my conscience,” she said. Ms Mills and the woman she rescued were taken to Katanning Hospital and then transferred to Albany Health Campus for treatment that night. Both women underwent surgery for their injuries. “We were in the recovery room together — I woke up as she came in,” Ms Mills said. “Once I went back to my room, I asked where she was and I went and saw how she was after surgery and she was doing all right.” When Ms Mills spoke to the Shire of Katanning ranger after the incident, she discovered the severity of the attack. “He said in the 20 or 30-odd years he’s been a ranger in various towns and seen different dog attacks, he’s never seen such a thing,” she said. “He described it as being more of a shark attack because we were just ripped to shreds. Dogs bite, they don’t rip. But this one ripped and shredded us.” She said she was also told the dog had been taken off a farming property days earlier for mauling a mob of sheep. It is understood several people were needed to restrain the dog and put it into the ranger’s vehicle before it was taken away and euthanised. Ms Mills suffered some muscle damage in the attack and has had therapy to desensitise her arms to potential pain triggers. “I am still working on that but it’s getting there,” she said. The woman she rescued does not speak English. Thought they do not see each other regularly, they shared something they would not soon forget. “I see her through Woolies because I work there,” Ms Mills said. “I’ve come back through there a few times. I see her, she spots me and gives me a bit of a wave and we keep going and get on with our daily business.” As for the Bravery Medal, she said she was humbled by the honour. “I’m not one of those people who big-note myself of anything like that — it’s just like ‘I did it, who cares, move on, it’s over and done with’,” she said. The national bravery awards are presented biannually by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the independent Australian Bravery Decorations Council. Ms Mills was one of only six Australians to receive the Bravery Medal in the August list — and the only one from WA. Mr Hurley said the awards recognised individuals who were selfless and brave in a moment of peril. “Confronted with danger, they chose to help others,” Mr Hurley said. “On behalf of all Australians, I congratulate recipients and offer our thanks for their brave action. I encourage recipients to wear their Australian Bravery Decoration with pride. “The details of the brave acts are inspirational — the examples of selflessness and compassion reflect characteristics to which we all aspire.”