'I don't want to be known as a hero': Australian barber praised after rushing to help MP Helen Haines

A barber has become the centre of attention in Wangaratta, in Australia's Victoria state, after events on Monday afternoon. When independent MP Helen Haines was allegedly struck by a car in a deliberate attack, Ricky Jefferies ran from his neighbouring shop and held the driver. The prime minister has called him a hero, but Jefferies keeps saying he does not want to be known as one.

Jefferies' shop sits right next to Haines' electorate office. At about 4pm on Monday he had just finished cutting a young family's hair when he heard a loud crash, ran to help, and found that a car had hit Haines.

He said a lot of people got involved immediately and did not even check the danger. The driver was still in the car and the car was still on, and one man sat in front of the moving car, he said.

'I had no choice but to take him out of the car because it was the right and safest thing to do,' Jefferies said. After getting the driver out, he held the man down, told him he could not leave but that he would be alright, in an attempt to calm him while others helped Haines.

Jefferies alleged the driver had a knife in his pocket. The man did not pull it out; he took it out of his pocket and threw it away, Jefferies said.

Haines was allegedly rammed twice on Murphy Street in Wangaratta on Monday afternoon, and remained in a critical but stable condition on Tuesday morning. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese alleged it was an attack and said it 'wasn't an accident'.

Citing witnesses, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Tuesday morning that the driver did a U-turn before allegedly ramming Haines against a vehicle, then reversed before doing it a second time.

Jefferies was back at work cutting hair at 7am on Tuesday. He said he did not stop to think about the danger, only that his wife might be upset if he got hurt. 'My family is everything, and my community is second to that,' he said.

On Tuesday his actions were widely commended, including by Albanese, Burke and the mayor of Wangaratta, Irene Grant. Albanese told the Today Show that at this dark and terrible time a good Samaritan had rushed to Helen's defence, and that person is a hero today. He said Jefferies deserved enormous praise and thanks, and that his intervention could have prevented even further damage.

Grant said she had spoken to the barber on Tuesday morning and that he was taking it in his stride. She said he was extraordinarily modest about the very brave action he took, and that he did an amazing job.

But Jefferies brushed the accolades aside, saying that, like all of the community, he is praying Haines recovers quickly. 'No one's job should put them at risk. I can tell you from my own personal dealings that she is a genuine, kind person,' he said. 'I don't think I'm the hero. I think that I just was a person who had an opportunity to intervene in a safe-ish sort of way.'