Shepparton paramedic reflects on floods for new portrait project
April 5, 2024in Community News
Ambulance Victoria (AV) paramedics and first responders are sharing their stories about the 2022 Victorian floods that devastated Shepparton communities in a new visual art project.
More than a year on, a series of portraits taken by Cam Matheson, titled ‘An Item of Connection’, will be unveiled at the Shepparton Festival to help share the stories of local people impacted by the floods and showcase an item that symbolises their experience.
Ambulance Victoria Paramedic Educator Adrian Pensak had his portrait taken with the waders he wore during the October 2022 floods.
AV Paramedic Educator Adrian Pensak is one of several emergency workers who shared his story as part of the project; prompted to reflect on what that time was like for himself, his family and the community.
When asked about the floods, Adrian said he can still picture the water-filled streets, destroyed homes, and the mammoth clean-up effort required afterwards.
However, he said an overwhelming sense of community spirit and teamwork overshadowed all the devastation.
“Everyone was just one big team for the whole four weeks – it was a great joint effort,” he said.
“In our spare time we would go to the showgrounds and help fill sandbags. Our Team Managers were very supportive and encouraged us to help wherever we could.”
Adrian was one of the emergency workers who responded to the Shepparton floods and offered his home to displaced AV employees.
During the challenging time, Adrian and his family offered their home to other AV staff who were displaced due to the rising water levels.
What started out as a simple gesture ended in Adrian and his family providing much needed help to about seven paramedics who had nowhere else to go.
While housing that many people in one home could be overwhelming, Adrian said they quickly started to feel like family.
“We made the best of a bad situation because we were essentially trapped,” he said.
“We brought mattresses in from the caravan and allocated one room to the men and one to the women, with my family staying in the master bedroom.
“They stayed for about a week and during that time we were all playing board games, we’d bring out the guitars and play music and they’d help out with cooking meals.
“Our home was open to everyone.”
Adrian said it was a “surreal” time unlike anything he had experienced.
“I remember the sheer number of roads that were closed and the people who were trapped. At one stage, Shepparton was basically cut off for two weeks,” he said.
“During our scouting missions to see which roads were open we would speak to farmers to show our presence and let them know they were not alone.
“The weather was basically changing hour by hour and for two weeks everything was unknown.”
The October 2022 floods saw many streets in Shepparton closed due to flood waters.
The ever-changing conditions also created challenges for paramedics.
“It was a different type of busy because we had a scout vehicle to check if we could get to different areas of town and which roads were open,” Adrian said.
“You had to be extra vigilant and careful, especially when driving at night because of the reflections in the water.
“We also went to the emergency hubs every day to see what the current conditions were like.”
When the water levels dropped locals were presented with a new challenge – the clean-up.
“The disaster afterwards was surreal,” Adrian said.
“It was astounding to see the impact the flooding had on everything including the roads where you could feel the spring in the asphalt from the water sitting underneath.”
Adrian said the whole community came together and helped with the recovery effort, a characteristic that makes him proud to be a local.
‘An Item of Connection’ will be open to the public as part of the Shepparton Festival from 5 – 21 April.
’An Item of Connection’ is a Shepparton Festival project generously funded by Greater Shepparton Foundation and the Australian and Victorian Governments in response to the October 2022 flood event which impacted communities in Greater Shepparton.
More information on the exhibition can be found here.