The saint of St Leonards

GROWING up, the only respite Glen Richards found from unrelenting bullies was silence as he submerged under the cool waters of St Leonards Pier.

“When I would go swimming, I couldn’t hear the names they would call me. I’ve got a long and interesting relationship with my pier. I’ve loved it since I was a young child, it’s the only place I could escape my epilepsy,” the 53-year-old said.

Born with grand mal epilepsy, Mr Richards would have hour long seizures six times a day that saw him spend the majority of his childhood at the Royal Children’s Hospital.

“Doctors didn’t think I was going to survive. I was meant to die, so doctors convinced my parents to give me up for medical research. I spent the following six years as a lab rat.

“In 1978 my family moved to St Leonards for a fresh start and I used to get picked on all the time. I was the ‘spastic’ kid with epilepsy that everyone hated.

“The pier was my escape, as long as I was under water I couldn’t hear what they were saying. My mum bought me a Hawaiian sling so I’d catch leatherjackets and angel fish.”

The real connection to the pier came in 1985 when 18-year-old Glen dove off the edge and broke his neck in three places.

“I dove off on Easter Sunday and spent two weeks in Geelong Hospital with a halo around my head. There was no spinal damage and when I came out of the water that day, my epilepsy was gone.

“I never had another seizure. I call it my little miracle, I stopped my medication that day in 1985 and haven’t had an episode since.”

As a frequent visitor to the pier, Mr Richards was saddened at the amount of litter so spearheaded a cleaning bee on January 18 that saw between 20-40 kilograms of rubbish collected.
“Rebecca from Bellarine Catchment Network and I filled up about three large rubbish bins full of rubbish. We collected rubbish from both sides of the beach and off the pier itself,” he said.

“The amount of effort people go to stuff chip packets in the pier itself, it would take less effort to put it in your pocket and wait until there’s a rubbish bin.”

Due to cloudy and choppy conditions, they were unable to dive under the pier itself but Mr Richards said it’s something he hopes to do again in the future.

“We found so many cigarette butts, lolly and chip packets, it was really sad to see. We have such a beautiful bay and it’s amazing how people just neglect it.

“The City of Greater Geelong with the help of Angie from Bellarine Catchment Network donated a skip for us to put rubbish in.

“I encourage everyone to do the same, take care of the planet, we only have one. I hope it makes a difference and I hope other people wake up and get involved.”