By Mitchell Clarke
Almost 30 years to the day between catch ups, local man Tim Stinear was reunited with Ian Smith, the paramedic credited with saving his life.
On 25 July 1989, then-university student Tim suffered a cardiac arrest in the Monash University pool and Ian, who was working at the Waverley branch, was dispatched.
“We attached our monitor and Tim was in a rhythm that we could defibrillate so we gave him one shock through our new cardiac monitor that we had on the cars and he sat up shortly after and started coughing,” Mr Smith said.
While Tim doesn’t recall the fateful day, he does remember the email he received out of the blue from Ian, which asked whether he was the Tim Stinear that used to live in Upper Beaconsfield and if he was resuscitated at a pool in 1989.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Mr Stinear said.
“An opportunity to reconnect, it was just an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, not that I think about this every day, but it’s something I live with and that opportunity to make that connection was something I wasn’t going to miss.”
Meeting as part of Thank a Paramedic Day on Wednesday 24 July, the pair reflected on the ordeal all those years ago.
Since then, Tim completed his science degree and has followed a research career, working as a molecular microbiologist and university professor at the University of Melbourne, but his proudest achievement is getting married and having three daughters.
“That’s the biggest blessing out of all this, that’s the chance I’ve been given,“ he said.
The idea of getting in contact again came after Ian found an old letter written by Tim’s mother Jan.
“It was a very moving letter, I still had a very good recollection of this job,” Mr Smith said.
“I just punched Tim’s name into the google machine and up came Tim at the top of the list.
“We look at our small role in prolonging Tim’s life but what he’s done with the rest of it and the number of people he’s helped and improved their quality of life, it’s just fantastic.”
Ambulance Victoria CEO Tony Walker said events like Thank a Paramedic Day are an opportunity for Victorians to say a collective ‘thanks’ to those who have responded to them in their time of need.
“Days like today are a wonderful opportunity to connect with the community that we serve and acknowledge the important role they play in helping us deliver the best care possible,” Mr Walker said.
“As paramedics, we rarely receive updates from our patients after we treat and transport them to hospital.
“That’s why this day is so important – because it gives us a chance to see the real effect it has on the lives of Victorians and their families.”
For Ian, reuniting with old patients like Tim and his family helps him to look back at the jobs he’s completed in his time.
“It’s just been fantastic, the reconnection we’ve had,” he said.
“Certainly, we didn’t knock off any neurons when we were doing the resuscitation.”
