Homayon Hatami with local priest Kevin Dillon. Credit:Penny Stephens After a stint at Maribyrnong detention centre in Melbourne, he has been in community detention in Geelong for the past three years. He says his $250 a week living allowance has just been cancelled and he has no income. A Geelong property developer is now paying Mr Hatami's rent and bills. A food bank linked to St Mary's Basilica is feeding him, and the Combined Refugee Action Group is providing legal and social support. Mr Hatami says he is "very sad", not knowing what his fate will be. He keeps his spirits up by jogging along the Geelong waterfront and training with a national karate coach in Highett. He was selected to represent Australia in Fiji earlier in 2014 but couldn't go because he did not have a passport. He says in May 8, 2013, he was "feeling very down" in his West Geelong house and went for a walk. He was sitting on the pier opposite the carousel at Geelong's Eastern Beach about 9pm, when a young woman strode past.

In choppy, freezing conditions, the woman plunged off the end of the pier, fully clothed, and a strong current pulled her 30 metres into Corio Bay. Mr Hatami stripped and dived in after her but when he grabbed her, she kicked and scratched at him, saying "leave me alone, I just want to kill myself". Holding her with one arm, he side-stroked back to a ladder below the pier. Although exhausted, he thwarted the woman's struggles until police were able to help lift her to safety. Mr Hatami says he hasn't spoken to the woman since then, apart from learning she was in hospital after the incident. He hopes she's OK. "I want to see her again." On November 28, 2014, at Government House, Mr Hatami was awarded the Royal Humane Society of Australasia's silver medal for bravery and earlier was awarded the commendation for brave conduct in the Australian Bravery Decorations.

St Mary's Basilica parish priest Father Kevin Dillon said the federal government's refusal to grant Mr Hatami asylum defied logic. "On the one hand, Homayon has been given this very high award for courage, has demonstrated great strength of character, and it's been recognised. On the other hand, without any reason, he's been denied his refugee status. "It seems to be a very strange thing to me that these two things coexist." "Having met him, from my perspective, he seems a fine upstanding fellow and he's demonstrated that in a way that few people do. There's every indication that he is someone who would make an excellent Australian citizen." St Mary's business manager Mark Bennett said: "Homayon has committed no crime, he is in Australia seeking protection and asylum and has shown himself to be a young man of incredible determination, integrity and heroic bravery. I wonder what else we would, or could, expect from a potential Australian citizen."

Geelong-based Greens federal Senator Richard Di Natale said the government's knockback of Mr Hatami was "shameful" and he called on new Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to "íntervene in the decision and overturn it". "This is a case where we've got a person we've recognised as being an incredible individual for the bravery that he showed, and we're going to turn our back on him. I just don't understand it." Linda Cusworth, from the Geelong-based Combined Refugee Action Group, said Mr Hatami's personal details were accidentally released on the internet earlier this year, "speaking of the trouble he had in Iran", and there was concern the Iranian government had obtained the information and could punish him. She said it was wrong that a code of conduct applied to refugees' negative actions in the Australian community in their application for asylum, but their positive contributions were not taken into account. An Immigration Department spokesperson said: "Where the Minister has previously considered a case and has declined to intervene, that case would generally only be referred to the Minister again if there is new information or the circumstances of the case have changed, and the case continues to meet the Minister's intervention guidelines."

Mr Hatami says his dream in Australia is to open a karate club and win gold for Australia at international competitions but at the moment "it's been four years of wasting time and I've lost too much opportunity. If possible, give me a chance." "I'd love to stay in this country, and be positive for this community. I'm still young, I can compete for this country in world competitions and after that open a club and teach many kids, and they can in the future be Australian champions."