When Dr Ashok Gangasandra Basavaraj found out he was being honoured for his role in rescuing a woman from a burning car three years ago, memories of the horror crash he witnessed flooded back.

“It was a very unfortunate and traumatic thing… it’s a nightmare to remember,” he tells Specialist Update.

In the early evening of 29 May 2016, Dr Gangasandra was driving home with his family on the Gold Coast Highway near Palm Beach, when a speeding vehicle overtook them.

It then careered off the road and crashed into a power pole.