City must remember my dad’s brave act
Norm honoured with medal for courageousness
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I WISH DAD WAS ALIVE SO THAT HE KNEW (HE HAD WON).
KATE LOWE
KATE Lowe remembers the last thing she said to her father Norman “Norm” Olsen before he was killed.
Mr Olsen had just helped Ms Lowe and family move into their new house west of Toowoomba on February 22, 2016, and the pair was saying goodbye on the driveway.
“I said, ‘thanks so much for helping us out’, we said we loved each other and he drove away,” Ms Lowe said.
She received a phone call hours later, informing that her 65-year-old father was unconscious in hospital, having been brutally bashed while trying to save a young woman and her two-year-old from James Darren David Callow.
Mr Olsen, who has been posthumously awarded the Australian Bravery Medal this week, was driving on Bridge St in Toowoomba that day when he noticed Callow attacking the victim and stepped in to stop him.
The woman was able to escape when Mr Olsen distracted Callow, who floored the Vietnam veteran with a punch.
The impact of the fall to the concrete caused a severe brain bleed, from which Mr Olsen never recovered.
His life support was turned off the next day.
Ms Lowe said she still carried guilt for what happened to her father, who she described as a loving parent and her closest friend.
“My dad was my only support for me and my four children,” she said.
“Most days, it’s very difficult
to keep it all together and to keep going. I miss him more than anyone in this world.
“I’ve carried a lot of guilt, because my dad would still be alive today if he hadn’t have come here.”
Ms Lowe didn’t want Toowoomba to forget Mr Olsen’s act of courage, which she said demonstrated his character.
“I would hate for what my dad has done to be forgotten,” she said.
“I’m just so proud of my dad – I’d like to see it recognised, to show that he mattered.
“I wish dad was alive so that he knew (he had won).”