A father of five ignored police threats when he waded into flood waters to save a baby kangaroo in Ipswich, west of Brisbane.
Footage showed Ray Cole, 39, as he saved the joey from drowning near One Mile Bridge in Queensland, where devastating floods have killed 12 people over the past week.
Mr Cole said he "couldn't stand there and watch our coat of arms just drown," the Herald Sun reports.
"When I was growing up on the streets of Preston we learned and lived by the motto that you reach out and help others," Mr Cole said.
Mr Cole spotted the joey with about 50 other people who were watching the raging floodwater in the Bremer river at One Mile Bridge.
"I could just see its little head bobbing up and down and I knew it didn't stand a chance," he said.
"So I went in and by the time I got to it, it had been hit by a log and its eyes were the only things still out of the water."
Police threatened to arrest Mr Cole as he went to rescue the struggling animal.
When he managed to bring it back to shore they told him he'd risked his life.
But Mr Cole said he was comfortable with his actions.
"You do what you do and I can live with that," he said.
Mr Cole said last he saw it some other helpers had wrapped a blanket around the kangaroo and it was back on its feet.
Meanwhile, the RSCPA said it was receiving about 100 calls a minute from worried animal owners who could not reach their pets.
They have been unable to put boats in the water to attempt to rescue animals because tidal currents have been too strong.
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