Leaving home at 16, Paul joined the Navy as a medic and commenced paramedical training in Bankstown Sydney in the year 2000, during the height of the Heroin epidemic.
Looking for a sea-change, Paul was working in Lightning Ridge in North Western NSW when he embarked on a coastal trip with his wife Carol, daughter Olivia, and sons Brody, Damon and Cameron. Visiting every town with an ambulance station, setting foot on Gumbaynggirr Country felt like coming home.
Hailing from an area with a strong sense of Indigenous culture, Paul and Carol knew that their young family could benefit from the tight knit Aboriginal community and focus on cultural education. The unspoilt coast of Nambucca Heads is where they knew they needed to be.
Having worked in the Valley since 2010, Paul has lived and worked through the impacts of Natural Disaster and the Covid-19 Pandemic. He notes the privilege of working alongside the Health, Police, Fire, and Rescue Services in the Valley; along with the opportunity to see how a small and resilient community has pulled together to support each other in displacement and grief, alongside the commitment to rebuild and refocus.
Paul is gracious in the part he has played to uphold community wellbeing during such a trying time, knowing that his ongoing service is not only integral to the community but also to his colleagues. With no two days ever the same, Paul values the ability to make a difference on what is often the worst day for his patients.
