After 50 years saving lives in the Inverell community, Des Clark has finally hung up his rescue gear.
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Des has officially retired from Inverell Rescue Squad Inc after 38 years of dedicated service, on top of 12 years with the ambulance service.
It was a career that took him by surprise, when a first aid class in Armidale led a position as an honorary ambulance officer and then a permanent job in Inverell in 1966.
“I was a mechanic by trade,” he said.
“In between jobs I used to service the ambulances.”
In those days ambulance officers worked solo, which could be hard; Des admitted. He recalled one traumatic incident when he was called out to a two car crash on the Tingha Road.
“When I arrived there, there was 23 people. There was five people in one car, there was 18 in the other one,” he said.
“That was a very big night.”
He said he remembered a horrific accident on the Ashford Road that spurred the community to form a Rescue Squad.
“People were trapped in two cars and nobody had the equipment to get them out,” he said.
After serving the Inverell Ambulance Service for ten years, Des became one of the fifteen original Inverell Volunteer Rescue Association members – along with Frank Fleming who still serves today.
The Squad started out in a spare ambulance with equipment donated by the Inverell Lions Club.
Des’ experience as an ambulance officer proved invaluable.
“In the days that I was with the ambulance service, we used to have to do our own rescue work,” he said. Arriving on the scene of an accident with rescue equipment, Des would rely on police to return it to the station, his own vehicle filled with patients.
Visiting local tragedies was difficult, Des admitted, but the town never forgot his impact.
“There were several times people would see you down the street and say – I just want to thank you very much for what you did the other day when my friend or relative was trapped in the car or someone was lost or missing,” he said.
“It’s a real achievement when they come along and thank you for what you’ve done.”
His years of service were rewarded in 2013, when he was presented with an Order of Australia medal for service to the Inverell community.
“That was a surprise,” Des said.
He also has an Emergency Services medal, a Pride of Australia medal and a VRA Service medal.
“It gives you a sense of achievement that you’ve done some great work,” he said.
Des said it was a little strange to hear about accidents in the area, or see them on the news, but not rush out to the scene.
“I do miss the work a little bit,” he said.
Des remains involved in the local VRA as a patron, and he has begun giving talks on motor vehicle accidents and rescue work.
“I enjoy talking to people about the type of work that we do.”
His wife Christine, who was a key member of the Squad’s management committee, and treasurer for many years, has also retired.
