After just a couple of years on the job, NSW ambulance officer Terry Goding faced a devastating task as one of the first responders to the Granville rail disaster.
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Eighty-three people died and 213 were injured in the January 18, 1977 accident which remains the worst rail disaster in Australian history.
It’s one of many incidents that stand out for Superintendent Goding who, along with his colleague Lloyd Chatfield, received a NSW Ambulance recognition of service medal on Monday.
The pair, who are both based at the Southern Control Centre at Barrack Heights, will retire this week after more than 40 years of service apiece.
“There’s many incidents you don’t forget – Granville; a car accident some 20 years ago at Gerroa that killed all five teens on board; the bus crash on Barrengarry Mountain (in 2010),” Supt Goding said.
“The main thing is that you take time to defuse – and I’ve always had my wife Kim with me on this journey. I actually met her when her car broke down in front of the ambulance station I was working at, and I helped her repair it.
“We were married two years later and she’s been through all the challenges, put up with the shift work and the Christmas Days and other events that I’ve missed. So it’s very much our retirement from the ambulance service.”
Another woman – his mother, a nurse – prompted him to join the service at 19, to help others. He started his career as a paramedic in Sydney and has had stints as a rescue operator and helicopter crewman.
In 1998 he came to the Illawarra to oversee the roll-out of the computer-aided dispatch system, and never left.
For Officer Chatfield, involvement in the Volunteer Rescue Association at Coonabarabran led to his application to the ambulance service at the age of 21. He worked in a range of rural and regional areas before settling in the Illawarra in 2000.
Some things have stayed the same; some things have changed – with a large increase in call-outs for suicide, domestic violence and drug use in the past decade.
“It can be very upsetting to be called out to these things,” he said. “But our ambulance officers go above and beyond to help their communities – and I’m proud to have been part of that.”
Officer Chatfield will still serve others in his retirement through his work with Rotary, while having a bit more time to spare indulging his passion for vintage cars.
Meantime, Supt Goding and his wife plan to set sail for the Whitsundays, before spending more time with family.
