George talks about the 'hell hole' | Canterbury News | Local News in Canterbury

Contractor George Orrock was one of hundreds of heroes on February 22, 2011, doing things that never made the headlines. He has never told his story, but today he reluctantly talks to The Star about how he saved a woman from the CTV building. He still has no idea who she was. Caroline King reports.

Toxic smoke wafted from the CTV building as George Orrock slid on his stomach through a narrow gap towards a woman pinned in the rubble.

Just minutes earlier he had been working on the September quake-damaged church across the road, going about his job on the overcast summer's day.

He had narrowly avoided serious injury or death, when he took cover as bricks cascaded around him from the church when the 12.51pm 6.3 quake struck.

Now, here he was sliding into literally a hell hole to save a stranger in the collapsed CTV building. Fire was imminent.

Mr Orrock and other people working on the church, were among the first to get to the CTV building.

Their first response was to help the injured off the rubble.

Moments later he found himself behind a policeman who was already burrowing his way into the hole.

"I followed him in, all I could see was his boots in front of me," Mr Orrock said.

Then he heard someone from outside yell: "The building is on fire, get out!" Someone behind him began tugging on his leg.

But Mr Orrock replied he couldn't leave the policeman in there by himself.

Mr Orrock was unaware that ahead of them was a woman pinned in her chair, trapped by debris.

But the smoke was overwhelming. The police officer asked Mr Orrock for a wet cloth for his face. He didn't but he wriggled out of his T-shirt and handed him that.

But the T-shirt offered no relief to the rapidly deteriorating situation and the police officer was forced to squeeze his way past Mr Orrock and out into fresh air.

"He had obviously got a good lung-full of smoke. All he could say to me was: 'There's a woman in there.'

"I had to go to her. There was no conscious thought. It was what needed to be done," he said.

Fighting claustrophobia, Mr Orrock slid his way towards the woman. How far, he is not sure. That was not important.

"I could smell the smoke, it was quite strong, but I couldn't see it. I managed to push through. I could see there was a lady, she had been on a seat and was trapped bent over. Her leg was trapped behind her chair."

Mr Orrock broke the chair leg to free her leg. Lying on his stomach he somehow managed to pull her down. She was wearing a red dress.

Sliding backwards he dragged her out of the hole.

"I got my hands under her arms and managed to pull her out."

He doesn't recall much of that detail. She was conscious. But few words were exchanged. He kept reassuring her and telling her everything would be okay.

He recalls her being worried he would rip her red dress.

"I remember saying that's the least of your worries," he said.

She seemed to be remarkably free of injury compared to the people he had helped earlier.

Out of the tomb, Mr Orrock carried the middle-aged woman down the rubble to safety.

"I don't think she was terribly aware of what was going on."

The sheer enormity of the CTV disaster hit Mr Orrock when he saw children being carried from the rubble.

"Things started to seep in when I saw someone carrying a child in their arms," he said.

More emergency rescue workers started to arrive, so he began to help directing traffic on the cordon.

"I figured I'd let the professionals do their job and get out of the way. I didn't know how badly the devastation was across the city. As far as I knew I expected to find mayhem everywhere."

He then left the central city to join his family at their Flaxton home, near Rangiora.

Mr Orrock hasn't been nominated for today's Christchurch Earthquake Awards. That doesn't bother him because he has wanted to keep his part on February 22 private.