A TRIO of Anglesea locals will be remembered as heroes in the eyes of an 80-year-old woman who was cared for by more than 20 emergency service workers at Urquhart Bluff on May 5.<\/p>\n
Miranda Hall was walking along the beach with her ex-husband Alan at 1.30pm when she slipped on a rock near the Mermaid Pool.<\/p>\n
Mr Hall said they were about four kilometres west of the bluff without a phone or person in sight to call for help.<\/p>\n
To their disbelief, two women and a young boy happened to pass by at exactly the right moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiranda came down heavy on her right side, went to get up and couldn\u2019t. She was in a bit of pain and I had no phone with me, nothing,\u201d Mr Hall said.<\/p>\n
\u201cA couple of girls walked by with an 11-year-old boy and his dog. It was lucky. There wasn\u2019t a lot of people there on the beach.\u201d<\/p>\n
Friends Lauren Bell and Jane Whitelaw were wandering the beach with Ms Whitelaw\u2019s son Tammas when they spotted Ms Hall in trouble.<\/p>\n
Ms Whitelaw is an ambulance community officer with Ambulance Victoria, and Ms Bell works as a ski patroller at Falls Creek during winter.<\/p>\n
Ms Bell said Ms Whitelaw dialled Triple Zero while she \u201cacted like a splint\u201d for Ms Hall until paramedics came onto the scene.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was highly suspicious that she\u2019d fractured her neck of femur. It was an awkward landing,\u201d Ms Bell said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJane rang the ambulance and then Tammas ran 15 minutes back to the Urquhart\u2019s carpark to bring emergency services to where we were.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Hall said when paramedics arrived, they made the decision to phone Melbourne\u2019s air ambulance as Ms Hall was in a tricky spot for their crews to navigate.<\/p>\n
The helicopter landed in the water before Ms Hall was transported to University Hospital Geelong. She had surgery on her hip the following day.<\/p>\n
Ms Hall said she was blown away by the care she received, both at the time of the incident and during the days that followed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow lucky can I get? I was in so much pain and I couldn\u2019t have asked for more attention and care.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was so touched, it brought tears to my eyes. I wanted to write a letter and thank everybody who helped me, and I tried to memorise all the nurses\u2019 names.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what would\u2019ve happened if I wasn\u2019t found. I\u2019d probably still be there.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it was Grade 6 Anglesea Primary School pupil Tammas Calder who proved every day people are capable of great things.<\/p>\n
He said he felt proud to have assisted Ms Hall that day on the beach.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt good that we found her and happy that she\u2019s safe. I hope she gets to have another fun walk on the beach.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A TRIO of Anglesea locals will be remembered as heroes in the eyes of an 80-year-old woman who was cared for by more than 20 emergency service workers at Urquhart Bluff on May 5. Miranda Hall was walking along the beach with her ex-husband Alan at 1.30pm when she slipped on a rock near the […]<\/p>\n