A FRANKSTON man has been reunited with a stolen medal he received for saving a family from a wrecked car.
72-year-old Michael Brown was one of four people who helped pull a mother and two-year-old girl to safety after a semi-trailer and car collided head-on in Langwarrin in 2005. After jumping in the backseat to help free the woman, the car burst into flames and left Brown with facial burns.
For his heroic efforts, Brown was awarded the Star of Courage by the Governor-General and a medal by the Royal Humane Society Australasia for bravery. In May this year, brazen thieves stole his bravery medal.
During a raid at a home on Finlay Street in Frankston on 28 October, police found and took back the medal. It was soon reunited with its rightful owner.
Victoria Police southern metro divisional four response unit acting detective sergeant Kerry Bell said “Michael put his life on the line to save two strangers, and was rightly awarded the medal for his courage and selflessness.”
“For a local hero to be the victim of an alleged home burglary is beyond heartless,” Bell said. “The alleged theft of his bravery medal didn’t take away his hero status, but it sure is a very special thing for us to be able to reunite him with it.”
A 30-year-old man was arrested at the Finlay Street home and charged with possessing stolen goods, prohibited weapons, an explosive device, methamphetamines, ecstasy and other drugs of dependence, and proceeds of crime. He was bailed to appear at Frankston Magistrates’ Court on 19 November.
First published in the Frankston Times – 25 November 2025