EXCLUSIVE
Bali bombings hero Erik de Haart died still bearing physical and mental scars from the 2002 terror attack which claimed 202 lives, including those of 88 Australians.
But the larger-than-life character never received any official recognition for his bravery in the aftermath of the carnage or his selfless acts in the two decades that followed.
Awards were bestowed upon 199 Australian and foreign recipients – 37 for bravery – a year after the September 2002 atrocity.
Among those to receive Orders of Australia or other honours for deeds performed in Bali were doctors, diplomats, police, various public servants and military personnel.
Bravery decorations in the 2003 Special Honours List included two Crosses of Valour, four Stars of Courage, 14 Bravery Medals and 17 Commendations for Brave Conduct.
But for some reason, Mr de Haart’s actions were never acknowledged despite widespread reporting of how he risked his own life to pull injured men and women from the burning bomb site.
Mr de Haart, a well-known accountant and sports club sponsor from Sydney’s eastern suburbs, died aged 67 of a suspected heart attack on February 16.
A memorial prayer service was held at Our Lady of the Sacred Heard Catholic Church at Randwick on Wednesday morning.
Bali bombings hero Erik de Haart (above) died still bearing physical and mental scars from the terror attack which claimed 202 lives including those of 88 Australians
Mr de Haart never received any official recognition for his actions in the aftermath of the Bali bombing carnage (above) or his selfless acts in the two decades that followed
On October 12, 2002, Mr de Haart had been in Kuta with members of the Coogee Dolphins rugby league club on their end of season trip.
He had just walked a member of the touring group to their hotel when Jemaah Islamiyah terrorists detonated bombs at Paddy’s Bar and the Sari Club shortly after 11pm.
With no idea what had happened, Mr de Haart rushed back to the Sari Club and ran into the ruins of the building to help get as many of the injured as he could to hospital.
Dolphins players Clint Thompson, 29, Adam Howard, 27, Dave Mavroudis, 28, Shane Foley, 34, Gerard Yeo, 20 and Joshua Iliffe, 28, had all been killed in the Sari Club.
Less than 48 hours after the bombings, Mr de Haart and two other Dolphins faced the horrifying task of finding their dead mates at the overflowing morgue in Sanglah Hospital.
Clint Thompson was identified by a Sonic the Hedgehog tattoo on his arm.
Journalist Ali Donaldson, who met Mr de Haart in the days after the bombings, said she had unsuccessfully nominated her friend for a bravery reward several times.
‘Erik de Haart’s bravery well surpassed his incredible feats pulling survivors out in the moments after the terror strike,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘He returned when most understandably ran for their lives.
Jemaah Islamiyah terrorists detonated bombs at Paddy’s Bar and the Sari Club (above) shortly after 11pm on October 12, 2002
Dolphins players Clint Thompson, 29, Adam Howard, 27, Dave Mavroudis, 28, Shane Foley, 34, Gerard Yeo, 20 and Joshua Iliffe, 28, were all killed in the Bali bombings
‘For decades he continued to stand up, dealing with his own demons while actively being there for anyone who needed support – knowing the power of listening and caring.’
Donaldson last interviewed Mr de Haart for the Network Ten podcast Shockwaves: The Bali Bombings to mark the attack’s 20th anniversary in 2022.
‘I knew him for more than 20 years and to me he was an ongoing hero – a word he wasn’t a fan of – but well deserved,’ she said.
‘I put him up several times for bravery commendations – it was never his year – but maybe that speaks to someone whose bravery surpassed a singular moment.
‘His was a lifetime of strength.’
Mr de Haart relived the night of the bombings for the Shockwaves podcast.
‘I raced up to the front of the Sari Club and it was just a nightmare – people screaming, people on fire,’ he said.
‘I’m trying to find the boys – I couldn’t see any of the boys. I just started going into the Sari Club and there were bodies lying everywhere.’
Mr de Haart’s heroism was never acknowledged despite putting his own life at risk while pulling injured men and women from the burning bomb site. He is pictured above
Mr de Haart said he carried some of the wounded out of the Sari Club and helped them onto the backs of locals’ bikes.
‘I grabbed this guy on a bike and said, “Take him to hospital”,’ he told Donaldson.
‘And this little guy looked up at me and said, “How am I going to hold him up and ride my bike?” But he did.
‘The Indonesian guys kept coming along in their cars and taking people from us.
‘It was an awful, awful night and it lives with you for a long time. It was six months before I could get the smell of burning flesh out of my nose, you know, the taste out of my mouth.’
Mr de Haart stayed in regular contact with the Dolphins players’ families in Australia while he was in Bali, and they were at Sydney Airport when he flew home.
Clint Thompson’s brother Brian hugged Mr de Haart and told him the six dead men’s loved ones needed him to describe for them what had happened in Bali.
‘I knew that was something that I had to do, not only for my own sense,’ Mr de Haart told Donaldson.
Mr de Haart was in Kuta with the Coggee Dolphins rugby league team at the time of the Bali terror attacks (above) and pulled so many wounded victims from the wreckage he lost count
‘But I had to represent the families, I had to try and relieve them of as much pressure as possible, so they could get on with the grieving.’
Mr de Haart suffered burns while rescuing the wounded which left scars on the lower parts of his legs. What he experienced in Bali also left a permanent psychological mark.
There has long been conjecture about who did exactly what immediately after the bomb blasts and that understandable confusion will likely never be resolved.
‘There are people that say that your story keeps changing,’ Mr de Haart told Donaldson. ‘I don’t think my story’s changed that much.
‘I’ve added things… Your mind and your brain are wonderful things that God gave us. And I think they store all this information inside our head.
‘And as you get stronger, and you get better, and you get more able to handle it, you remember these things, that little dark door that you’ve locked in, it opens it up a bit and things get out…
‘I don’t think unless you’ve been through that, that situation, you don’t know because in order to survive you have got to try to forget and what a lot of people don’t realise is that being a survivor is a life sentence.’
Each time Mr de Haart spoke publicly about how the bombings had affected him he was asked when he would ‘get over it’ by social media trolls.
Mr de Haart often spoke publicly about the night he lost six close friends from the Dolphins but saved so many other lives. He is pictured left at a 2010 memorial service in Coogee
‘I hate the word closure,’ Mr de Haart told Donaldson. ‘Because you never get closure.
‘You learn to deal with it better, but you never get closure. It’s always there.’
Mr de Haart’s death leaves just three Coogee Dolphins of the 11 who were in Bali still alive.
Patrick Byrne, who had run into the Sari Club to save wounded victims, was found dead at his parents’ Central Coast home in May 2014, having never emotionally recovered from the ordeal.
Unlike Mr de Haart, Mr Byrne was awarded a Commendation for Brave Conduct in August 2008 for his actions at the Sari Club that night.
‘Everyone who went into the Sari club that night was a hero, it was a warzone, and Pat did it over and over again,’ Mr de Haart said after Mr Byrne died.
Coogee Dolphins life member and former president Alby Talarico told Daily Mail Australia the club was devastated that Mr de Haart was gone.
‘The spectre of Bali always remained with him,’ Mr Talarico said.
Coogee Dolphins life member and former president Alby Talarico told Daily Mail Australia the club was devastated that Mr de Haart (above) was gone
‘He did a lot for so many people in the immediate aftermath and for the club in the days and weeks and years that followed.
‘The sadness is even greater because we went away with 11 and we lost six. Since then we’ve lost Patty and now Erik.’
Eligibility for Australian bravery decorations, which were established in 1975, is defined on the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet’s website.
‘The decorations recognise acts of bravery by members of the community,’ it states.
‘Award recipients had selflessly put themselves in jeopardy to protect the lives or property of others.
‘Bravery or courage differs from fortitude in a crisis situation. Bravery is a deliberate choice to go from a place of safety to danger or remain in a perilous position to provide help.’
Anyone can nominate a person to be recognised for bravery in Australia or on foreign soil and decorations can be bestowed after that person dies.
The Honours Secretariat within the office of the Governor-General researches any nomination put forward.
The 14-member Australian Bravery Decorations Council then considers nominations and makes recommendations for awards to the Governor-General.
There is no set timeframe for bravery awards but there are generally two announcements of recipients each year in April and August.
A spokeswoman for the Honours Secretariat said nominations for bravery awards could be made at any stage after an event had occurred.
‘There is no cut-off date for recognition,’ she said. ‘What is important is that there is sufficient information for the Council to make a recommendation on the nominated act.’
