Matt Waixel sports his winning trophies as he prepares to compete in the National First-Aid Championships.
By Sarah Schwager
NARRE Warren’s Matt Waixel is off to Darwin after winning the Victorian First-Aid Championships.
A youth leader at the Cranbourne-based St John Ambulance Casey Combined Division, Matt entered the competition held on Saturday, 12 August after winning the regional championships earlier this year.
The 19-year-old will now represent Victoria at the National Championships in the Northern Territory in January.
Matt joined St John four years ago as part of the Duke of Edinburgh scheme and has not looked back.
“I was doing it as part of community service and I just loved it,” he said.
Matt said he had entered the first-aid championships after being recommended by other members of the division.
“I had been to a couple of events just watching,” he said.
“It looked like a bit of fun so I thought I’d give it a go.”
Besides storming the world of first-aid competitions, Matt keeps himself busy working as a labourer and fulfilling his role as youth leader at St John.
Matt said the position involved running the cadet program at the Casey division, which included training and managing all the under 18 cadets.
Next year Matt plans to study nursing at university.
“I really want to get into nursing,” he said.
“St John is a really good training ground. A lot of people in St John are nurses.”
Matt said he would now be busy preparing for the national first-aid event next year.
