Saviours honoured
The heroic cops who saved a colleague’s life after he had a heart attack while driving have spoken about the experience, saying, ‘‘he wasn’t going to die on our shift’’.
North Shore Sergeant Keki Wilson, Constable Dean Henderson and Constable Michelle Melis have received the District Commander’s Commendation at the Auckland Metropolitan Police Awards.
The awards, held this year at the Vodafone Events Centre in Manukau, celebrate police work that is above and beyond the call of duty.
Wilson, Henderson and Melis were recognised for their actions on September 18, when Constable Damian Albert suffered a heart attack at the wheel of his patrol car in Mairangi Bay.
The car veered off the road and smashed into a retaining wall in front of a house.
Melis says the first indication that something was wrong was a query from the district communication centre, asking if anyone on duty had heard about the crash.
‘‘Everyone was waiting for that call to say who it was, because normally if you’ve had a crash you get on the radio and tell your supervisor,’’ she says.
‘ ‘ There was a horrible radio silence and I’m thinking, ‘This is not good’.’’
Wilson and Henderson were first on the scene and found Albert unconscious and not breathing. They pulled him from the car and started CPR.
‘‘At first it was surreal and then the training we got kicked in,’’ Wilson says.
Ambulance staff arrived shortly after and gave Albert multiple shocks with a defibrillator while the three cops took it in turns to do chest compressions.
‘‘It felt like ages but it was only about 25 to 30 minutes. It felt like days,’’ Melis says.
‘‘It’s horrible when it’s anyone but when it’s a colleague it’s that extra level of horrible.’’
Henderson says for a while they were doubtful if Albert was going to make it.
‘‘At one point a lady said, ‘ It’s not looking good’ and I thought, ‘ He’s not going to die on our shift’.’’
Eventually Albert’s heart started working again and he was taken to hospital. Waitemata district commander Superintendent Bill Searle says the trio’s actions were in the highest traditions of the New Zealand police.
But Melis says it’s just business as usual.
‘‘It’s nice to be acknowledged but at the end of the day it is just our job. I’m just grateful for the result we got.’’