Birthday blow

By Kath Gannaway
PAUL Hagen was expecting to celebrate his 21st birthday at the Woori Yallock Football Club on Saturday night.
Instead, the popular young Tiger was flown by air-ambulance from the football ground after being injured in a collision just minutes from both his home and his home ground.
Paul, who had played in the reserves match against Silvan earlier in the day, was a front-seat passenger in a Ford Laser which was involved in a collision as it turned right into the Healesville Kooweerup Road from Warburton Highway just before 5pm.
Senior Constable Ron Veldman of Yarra Ranges Traffic Management Unit said Paul and the back-seat passenger, friend Catherine Roberson, took the full force of the collision with a 4WD vehicle travelling towards Yarra Junction.
He said the driver of the Laser, also a friend, had gained her provisional licence just two days before.
The scene which confronted Paul’s parents, Peter and Annette Hagen, was horrific.
Mr Hagen arrived just a few minutes after the crash and said Paul was trapped in the vehicle and a bare-chested stranger was holding his head as Wandin Rescue volunteers worked for more than half an hour to cut him from the wreckage.
“A nurse, who I think must have been on her way home from work, was taking care of Cat (Catherine), our son Matthew’s girlfriend, trying to stop the bleeding.
“I think she had told him how to hold Paul’s head and I was holding Cat’s hand because she was in shock,” Mr Hagen recalled in a chilling account of a situation parents dread to think of, let alone play a role in.
Paul was operated on at the Royal Melbourne Hospital about 11.30pm after the air ambulance was diverted from The Alfred hospital, while Catherine taken to Maroondah Hospital.
Mr Hagen said Paul, who had his spleen removed and had four broken ribs, and Ms Roberson, who suffered facial injuries and also has broken ribs, were now recovering in hospital.
“One of the hardest things was for us, travelling in two groups, not knowing what was going on, or what condition Paul was in,” Mr Hagen said.
“It was a lot better than it could have been for both Paul and for Cat, and for the driver who has taken this very hard.
People from the police and emergency services all said it could have been a hell of a lot worse, and we’re thankful it’s not.”
Mr Hagen said Paul was keen to identify the bare-chested man who stayed with him, and the nurse, as he wants to thank them personally once he is out of hospital.
“We would like to thank them, too, and everyone, the SES and CFA volunteers, the paramedics and the police, for a terrific job.
“The Hagen family really appreciates the great job they did.”
Sen Const Veldman said the driver of the 4WD, a Launching Place woman, and three young passengers had escaped uninjured.