By Marcus Uhe
Leading Senior Constable at Cranbourne police station, Paul Sedgewick isn’t comfortable with the labels of “hero” and “lifesaver”.
But Eddie Hennessy won’t have it any other way.
It was a Saturday night in late October at the Chelsea Heights hotel. LSC Sedgewick was there with his wife, and on the table next to him was Mr Hennessey, enjoying a live performance from Daryl Braithwaite and Russell Morris and conversing occasionally with fellow fans on neighbouring tables, as the performers began to wind down their act for the night.
As the crowd eagerly awaited a rendition of the timeless classic Horses, LSC Sedgewick felt a thud on his foot.
It was Mr Hennessey, who had suffered a medical episode, and fell across him on the way down to the floor.
“I sort of looked down as if to say ‘are you alright mate?’, because I thought maybe he’d tripped on the chair that was between us or something,” LSC Sedgewick said.
“Then I had a look and I realised straight away that no, he’s not okay, there’s something wrong here.”
Despite being off-duty on the night, immediately LSC Sedgewick swung into what he described as police mode.
“I rolled him over because he landed face-down, and his colour was terrible. His whole face was blue-ish, grey, and I looked into his eyes and they were fixed, straight ahead, so I knew instantly there was something wrong.
“I rolled him onto his back and I checked for a pulse and to see if he was breathing, but I couldn’t find either.
“I looked up and there were people standing over watching and I said to someone, ‘ring 000 and get an ambulance’. I re-checked his pulse and still couldn’t find anything, so I pulled his jumper and shirt up and started doing CPR straight away.”
First-aid training is compulsory as part of police training and despite only performing it once before during his career in the force, a refresher course in August meant the theory was relatively fresh in LSC Sedgwick’s brain.
After a handful of compressions, there was life; Mr Hennessey begun to regain consciousness and composure, allowing LSC Sedgwick and other bystanders to roll him onto his side and comfort him while they waited for his partner, Niece, and MICA paramedics to arrive.
All the while, the show continued undisturbed.
“We were up the back and to the side so I don’t think Darryl Braithwaite actually knew what was happening, there was a lot of crowd between the stage and us.
“I do recall after we had him on his side and he was recovering, I stuck my head up and went ‘oh, he’s doing Horses!’ which turned out to be the last song of his set.”
While the two can joke about the timeline of events now, the circumstances at the time were no laughing matter.
For Mr Hennessey, it was quite literally a case of life and death.
“I just remember standing there, there were yellow, orangey, bright red lights,” he said.
“I was coming and going. I knew something wasn’t right, instantly, and then boom, it happened that quick.
“I landed on my face. I woke up with Paul next to me and my chest was so sore.”
Shortly after the episode, paramedics arrived and LSC Sedgewick handed over responsibility to the experts, BUT not before exchanging contact details with Mr Hennessey to ensure he could check-in on his new-found friend, who had attended the concert on his own.
Once he had made a recovery, Mr Hennessey set out to reconnect with the man that brought him back to life.
Having worked in similar fields during his professional career, Mr Hennessey has an appreciation for the trials and tribulations faced by officers every day, and the toll it can take on someone’s wellbeing.
“I went online to the compliments and complaints page of Victoria Police to praise Paul for what he had done, not just for me, but for my family and my loved ones,” Mr Hennessey said.
“It was confirmed that he works at the Cranbourne Police Station so I came here, but he wasn’t here.
“I wanted to meet Paul, I really wanted to come and show my gratitude for what he had done. I wanted him to be recognised.
“I wanted to meet up with Paul, and I knew that he was just a big beautiful gentle giant. As you can see, there are no other words I can use to describe him.”
After a couple of weeks, the two were finally reunited, with Mr Hennessey providing a prescient gift to LSC Sedgwick.
“My surname is Hennessey, so I thought it would be fitting to get him a bottle of Hennessey.
“So I came in, gave him a big hug, and shook his hand.
“He saved my life, he can ask for anything he wants and I’ll give it.
“I love the guy. I’ve met him a couple of times now and the more I meet him the more I think he’s a beautiful man.”
For LSC Sedgewick, the best gift he could ask for is seeing Mr Hennessey happy and healthy once again.
“I’m happy for what I was able to do for him and the fact that he’s sitting here today.
“Really what the reward is, for me, that despite your other health issues, you’re here, you’re happy, you’re able to talk, you’ve recently celebrated a birthday, so that’s my reward.
“As far as a lifesaving thing, I certainly don’t consider myself a hero. I didn’t do anything brave, it needed to be done, and I just did it. As I said, someone had to do it. I’ve had the training and I did it and it worked.”
The incident has prompted Mr Hennessey to encourage everyone to undertake a CPR course.
After all, very few would be able to offer a better assessment of the benefit than someone who was brought back to life via the crucial mechanism.
“I believe knowledge is powerful.
“From my point of view I would like to see big venues, their on-duty managers, foremen in a factory, for example, have some knowledge of CPR.
“I’ve actually heard stories over the years where a lot of people have been lost. Some have been lucky, I was Johnny on the spot, I drew the right straw.
“I’m 110 per cent behind more people learning to do CPR. I’ve seen it advertised online now, you can go and do a course for $48. You get a certificate and you’re authorised.”
LSC Sedgewick agreed.
“In a public environment, you often will get that off-duty doctor, or nurse, or a paramedic who can help. Same as when you go to collisions, as part of our job, often we’ll find out that there’s an off-duty paramedic or nurse or someone at the scene driving past who stopped to help.
“But in a work environment, that’s not always going to be the case, so Eddie’s got a good point.”
Mr Hennessey said he’ll always be grateful for the quick-thinking of the man he had never met just a few hours earlier on the faithful night.
“I think about him. I’m a Christian and I think about him out there and I hope that he’s safe within the community.
“It’s not an easy job, we’ve got a lot of policemen in our family and I just hope they stay safe and do their job properly.”
