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12 JULY, 2022
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Hands on to help save life
VU students Sean Challis and Kimberlie Jusic. (Damjan Janevski) 287729_04
Paramedicine students at Victoria University’s St Albans campus will be running free CPR training for community groups and schools in the west from next year. Paramedicine senior lecturer Brian Haskins is developing the program. He urges everyone to take advantage of the life-saving training to acquire the skills to help someone having a cardiac arrest “In reality, if bystanders don’t do anything in the first 10 minutes, there’s very little chance of anyone surviving a cardiac arrest,” he said. “For every one minute delay in CPR, there’s a 10 per cent less chance of survival. And for every one minute delay in defibrillation, there’s a 10 per cent less chance of survival, and the average paramedic response time is about 10 minutes.” Paramedicine students Kimberlie Jusic and Sean Challis are eager to begin teaching vital CPR skills to the community. Ms Jusic, who is in her third year of studies, said she is eager to become a paramedic because they help people “feel safe on what is probably one of the worst days of their life”. Mr Challis said he loves the challenge of paramedicine and felt it would be a very rewarding career. Holly McGuinness
Mates pitch in for Mitch The PEGS Football Club community has rallied around the family of club member Mitchell Williams, following his sudden death on July 2. The Greenvale father-of-two, who was heavily involved in the Keilor club, died at age 34. He leaves behind wife Casey and daughters Lila, 3, and Zoe, 1. Family friend, Taylors Lakes resident Callum Glassford, set up a fundraising page to support Mitch’s family and help with funeral costs. As
of Friday, $123,315 had been raised. A statement on the fundraising page said Mitch touched the lives of so many people. “Mitch was a school PE teacher and co-ordinator, a football coach – he wore many hats and was well respected around our community. He was committed, positive and an inspiration to his students and to those he worked with,” the statement said. “He will be forever missed by so many.” PEGS Football Club president Damien Cerentonio said the club has thrown its support
behind Casey, Lila and Zoe. “Everyone from the club is absolutely devastated and heartbroken by this loss,” he said. “Mitch, he lit up the room whenever he was in the club. It was a better place when he was around. He brought laughter, humour and would always lighten the mood when he was around, You always felt his love. “It’s just devastating for his family, we’re all hurting but I can only imagine how, Casey, his wife, and two young daughters are feeling as well his mum and dad.”
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Mr Cerentonio said the fundraising page was “critical” to helping Casey. “Casey’s family is from New Zealand. So I think that’s why the … page is so important. She’s a young mom now by herself with two girls and her family is based in New Zealand, so it’s critical that we raise as much money as we can over the next little period to ensure that the two girls have the best quality of life that Mitch had always hoped for,” he said. Details: mycause.com.au/rememberingmitch
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By Holly McGuinness