St John’s green team helps save a boy in blue

A WA police officer whose life was saved earlier this year has been reunited with St John crews who came to his aid.

A family holiday with a close group of friends took a life-threatening turn for Senior Constable Adam Hunter after a jet ski incident resulted in his non-fatal drowning.

SC Hunter, his wife and three children joined eight other families for their annual camping trip to Sandy Bay in Busselton – a tradition which has been in place among the group for a number of years.

“On the day of the incident we were towing an inflatable couch behind the jet ski when both were upended by a freak wave,” he said.

“Everyone else came to the surface unharmed, but I was left face-down and had ingested a large amount of salt water by the time my predicament was discovered.”

This all unfolded on January 12 and resulted in SC Hunter being taken to Busselton Health Campus before being flown to Fiona Stanley Hospital, where he was placed in an induced coma for four days.

After being discharged from hospital, a major goal was to meet and thank the friends and St John WA paramedics who had saved his life, and on January 25 – his first time venturing out of the house since the incident – this was able to occur at a Bull Creek park.

“I wanted to personally thank paramedics Simon and Tristan, who along with their colleagues, Libby and Sharon, attended the beach and without whom I might not be here today,” Adam said.

“They arrived within eight minutes and their initial actions directly influenced the outcome.

“And of course my friends who got me out of the water, barely conscious and gasping for air due to the water in my lungs. They assisted paramedics in every way they could and again these actions were critical.”

Adam’s wife Kate said their friends also immediately arranged for all the children to be taken back to the campsite and helped to direct paramedics to the scene.

“Adam is very water safety conscious and it’s hard to believe something like this could happen to him,” she said.

“On the day, he was checking the weather forecast, making sure everyone was wearing life jackets and he is always very vigilant whenever our children are near water.”

Adam said even now there was still water in his lungs and this could take some weeks to resolve itself.

“The water reduces the ability of your lungs to provide oxygen to the body impacting your energy levels, and any physical activity also takes oxygen away from the brain,” he said.

“But I’m walking and talking – and very thankful to be here at all.”

*Story and photo courtesy of WA Police