PRAYERS FOR ‘ GOOD BOY’
DAVID Lowah heard the car screech to a stop outside the Mt Garnet Ambulance Station just before 10pm on May 23. He heard a woman screaming.
He ran across the road, his partner Margaret Lowah and Aunty Dianne Hooligan following.
Two men – brothers Mark and Robert Miller – were down on the footpath. There was blood everywhere. A woman was crying.
The woman had driven the men to the ambulance station.
David banged on the door of the ambulance station.
The lone paramedic hearing the noise came out. He was confronted with the grisly scene on the street.
Two men were down and blood was flowing across the concrete. He swung into action, doing everything he could to save two lives.
Margaret, 32, had been to school in Mt Garnet with both of the brothers. They were “good boys” she said.
Mark’s reputation told another story. The Cairns Post described him as an “enforcer”. A friend said he had lived and died by the sword. He had not long been out of Lotus Glen Prison Correctional Centre at Mareeba.
Now, out there on the footpath, his lifeblood was running across the cement.
Margaret bent over Mark and asked if she could pray for his soul.
“Mark, can I pray for you?” she asked. He was unable to speak. His glassy eyes rolled towards hers. He nodded faintly, “yes”.
He had stab wounds to the top of his head and one side of his face was laid open at the cheekbone. There was a large wound in his side below one armpit, pumping blood. There was another puncture to his lower stomach and at least six stab wounds to the back. It had all the hallmarks of a frenzied attack.
As Mark Miller lay dying on the cement, Margaret prayed.
“I prayed, ‘ Heavenly Father, I commit Mark into your hands’. I kept telling Mark that Jesus loved him. Even when he was unconscious I kept calling out his name and telling him Jesus loved him,” she said.
David Lowah was with Robert, who also had multiple wounds.
The police were there. More help arrived. Mine workers trained in lifesaving arrived. People were performing CPR and applying pressure to the bleeding wounds. There was so much blood.
“They all did an awesome job,” Margaret said.
Margaret said she was at peace with herself. Her faith was holding her together. She said she was comforted by the fact Mark was in heaven. She knew he was in good hands.
“I grew up with the boys. I knew them. They were lovely boys,” she said. The question had to be asked. And what about Mark? He had been in trouble with the police.
Margaret looked out into the bush before answering.
“He was just being a country boy, I suppose. He was raised a country boy,” she said.