174 MEMBERS of Victoria Police have paid the ultimate price for upholding peace and safety. The Blue Ribbon Foundation commemorates the memory of fallen officers by supporting worthwhile community projects.
The Foundation’s recent donation to GV Health of $250,000 will provide new and improved facilities at the hospital that are dedicated, or re-dedicated, to five officers that hold a local connection.
Emerging from a need over the past two years, the new Emergency Department Isolation Room will provide an important facility for patients who present with symptoms that could possibly be consistent with transmissible conditions. This facility will honour Constable Victor Nelson and Senior Constable Ian Crilly, who died 69 years apart, Nelson in Shepparton and Crilly on the Murray Valley Highway in Corryong.
The Eyre-Tynan Emergency Department was originally dedicated to Constable Damian Eyre and Constable Steven Tynan in 2007, but has been relocated and expanded upon under to the recent hospital redevelopment.
The Ray Denman Short Stay Unit was also dedicated in 2007 and has benefitted from increased capacity under the redevelopment.
In 1964, First Constable Ray Denman responded to a call in Numurkah where a resident’s boyfriend was armed with a shotgun and banging on the door of her Knox Street home. Denman attended the call almost immediately, running to the house and approaching Dean Christian whose firearm discharged fatally wounding the Constable.
A memorial garden will be installed next to the emergency department, offering patients, visitors and hospital staff with a quiet and reflective space that honours those that lost in the service of our community.
“The lives and careers of these men were tragically cut short,” said Rick Nugent, Victoria Police deputy commissioner of regional operations.
“We again thank them for their loyal, dedicated and professional service to the Victorian community.”
Representatives of the officers’ families were present at the ceremony where new dedication plaques were unveiled for the memorial projects.
