Clint Kelleher, Josh O'Brien, Rain Hao with his young son, Jack Cusick and Kali Barnes at Goldfields Oasis
Bravery honours for Goldfields Oasis staff for saving lives of two patrons this year
Staff at the Goldfields Oasis Recreation Centre in Kalgoorlie have been recognised for their quick-thinking actions that saved the lives of two patrons in separate incidents this year.
Rain Hao was playing basketball at the centre in May when he suddenly collapsed from cardiac arrest. Alerted by another patron, staff members Clint Kelleher and Jack Cusick immediately attended the scene where they found Rain unresponsive and foaming at the mouth.
Jack ran to fetch the defibrillator and oxygen equipment while Clint radioed lifeguard Josh O’Brien to assist. Jack returned with the defibrillator and with Josh’s help administered two shocks and performed CPR until paramedics arrived. Another team member, Kali Barnes, assisted with phoning 000, relaying instructions to the responders and getting information from bystanders.
Rain was taken to hospital where he went on to recover from the incident. Jack and Josh, who were just 17 years old at the time, have been awarded a Royal Life Saving Gold Star Bravery Award for their actions. Clint and Kali were awarded a Bravery Commendation for their roles, each of them acting in a calm and professional manner to achieve a fantastic result.
In a separate incident at the Oasis, lifeguard Julian Pesava was on duty on a busy Wednesday afternoon in April when he noticed a patron in trouble. A three-year-old boy was struggling in the water, unnoticed by his parents.
Julian immediately noticed the child was in danger, jumped into the water and rescued the boy. Thanks to Julian’s quick thinking and timely response, the boy was returned safely to his parents. For his ability to put his training into action to respond to this emergency, Julian was awarded a Royal Life Saving Bravery Commendation.
Jack, Josh, Clint and Kali were presented with their awards by City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder Acting CEO David Trevaskis at an event at the Oasis on Thursday 2nd December. Julian, who is now based in Perth, was presented his award separately at the Royal Life Saving WA head office.
Royal Life Saving WA CEO Peter Leaversuch says that while the vast majority of visits to WA’s public aquatic centres – upwards of 10 million visits per year – are uneventful, there is a well-trained workforce ready to spring into action in the event of an emergency.
“These individuals are an excellent example to all Western Australians and show how vitally important it is to obtain lifesaving skills,” says Mr Leaversuch. “They’ve applied their skills to save another’s life, showing bravery and commitment in doing so, and deserve our highest recognition.”
If you know someone who has responded to save, or try to save, someone’s life, you can nominate them to receive the recognition they deserve at the link below.
