The State Emergency Service is today mourning the loss of one of its most experienced and respected members after the organisation's Wollongong-based deputy commissioner, Greg Slater, died while competing in a South Coast mountain bike event.Friends yesterday described the Mt Keira man as a gentleman devoted to his family and who loved keeping fit.Mr Slater, 46, was participating in the Eurobodalla Enduro event at Mogo when he suffered a cardiac arrest while riding up a hill in hot conditions about 1pm on Sunday.
Click here to pay tribute to Mr Slater, and read comments from his colleagues and friendsFour bystanders performed CPR until paramedics arrived but Mr Slater, who entered the 50km event with his teenage son Alex, died at the scene.He is also survived by his wife Jenny and daughter Madaline.SES state commissioner Murray Kear told the Mercury the Wollongong state headquarters had been flooded with hundreds of phone calls and messages of support yesterday after the death of a "much-loved" colleague."Today we're like a small family, feeling it very hard," Mr Kear said. "He certainly held the SES as one of the most important parts of his life. Everyone in the SES knew him. He was one of our most experienced, knowledgeable and recognised people."Mr Kear spent yesterday with Mr Slater's family and said they were devastated, bravely facing a situation "no words could describe".Mr Slater was also an Australian Federal Police officer who served in East Timor in 2001 and Cyprus in 1986 - where he was awarded the Australian Federal Police Commissioner and the United Nations Force Commander commendations for brave conduct.He played a crucial role in developing the AFP's capability in vertical rescue, swift water rescue, search and rescue co-ordination and disaster victim identification.In 1998 he began service with the SES and co-ordinated the vertical rescue taskforce in the 1999 Sydney hailstorms.He was appointed deputy commissioner of the NSW SES on August 23, 2004 and moved to Wollongong to take up the post.Mr Slater was an extremely fit man who enjoyed endurance sports and cycling. He had competed in the Australian Ironman Triathlon Championships four times and once owned a health store on the Mid North Coast.A close friend from Norfolk Island, where he served as a police officer for three years from 1994, said Mr Slater brought happiness to others and "fitted in like one of the locals"."All I can really say about him is that he was such a great friend, father and husband."He always had a huge, big smile on his face."NSW Emergency Services Minister Steve Whan paid tribute to his service yesterday."Mr Slater's leadership and dedication to the community of NSW and to his country will be sorely missed," Mr Whan said.Funeral details were not available last night, but it is understood Mr Slater's family will be offered a full SES funeral.
