Earning their stripesAlan Howe | September 07, 2009
RICHMOND footballer Graham Polak has come face to face with the two men who saved his life.
Polak suffered a potentially deadly brain injury last year when he was hit by a tram near his house on Dandenong Rd.
The Tigers defender was with teammates and heading towards a taxi when the tram's mirror struck him on the left side of his head.
A passerby called for help.
When mobile intensive care ambulance (MICA) paramedics Mark Eddey and his colleague, Paul, arrived Polak was bleeding profusely, barely conscious and in deep trouble.
"He had a lot of blood around his head," said Mark. "My assessment of him was that he had a traumatic brain injury."
Mark and Paul went to work quickly. They needed to sedate and paralyse Polak with powerful drugs usually reserved for anaesthetists in the controlled environment of a hospital surgery.
The pair had to estimate dosages based on Polak's weight.
"He looked a pretty big bloke, well-muscled," Mark explained.
"We felt his weight would be relatively close to 100kg (Polak is 93kg) and we calculated the drugs from there.
"I inserted a tube into Graham's airway, while Paul administered the drugs intravenously."
Mark and Paul, who were unaware of the identity of their perilously ill patient, were confident they could save him, but expected he would have a poor quality of life afterwards.
Polak has amazed doctors and everybody at his club by making a full recovery. He played the last two rounds of the season, kicking a goal in the final match.
"They did a great job," said Polak of the paramedics. "It's unbelievable. I couldn't have survived without them.
"I owe everything in my life to them," says Polak, set to marry Alyce Oksuz next year.
Polak never thought about giving football away. "Not one bit. A lot of people doubted me. I never doubted me.
"I've always been confident I could get back to that level. I was determined to come back and play and, thankfully, this second half of the year has worked out for me and I've been playing some good footy."
Polak admits he didn't understand the role of MICA paramedics until his accident.
"They've explained to me what they had to do, and the difference between the MICA guys and someone else coming," he said.
"It's really got through to me that they saved my life."
Most MICA paramedics across the state, including Mark and Paul, have resigned in an ongoing dispute with the State Government over pay and conditions.
The resignations take effect on Wednesday morning, at which point the state will effectively be without its MICA service.
Like many people, Polak was surprised to hear the pay rates for these lifesavers.
"They are that important in life, it's a wonder how it got to this stage," he said.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,26035009-11088,00.html
