In conversation with Paul de Gelder

PDG:  Yeah, that’s right, you know, in the moment of an emergency, you know, you might not use those skills for years and years but, once they’re drilled into you so intensely, at the drop of a hat you can call on them, and that’s what they did. 

POC: Do you think others would have given up, out of fear?

PDG:  I’d like to think that they wouldn’t, especially the guys that I work with, all very alpha-male type people.  So I’d like to think that most people would, you know, call on that natural instinct to survive that we all have really.

POC:  Did you think you’d ever not make it?

PDG: There was actually a couple of times where I thought I was going to die.  When the shark took me under the water for the second time, when I was swimming back to the safety boat, when I was in the ambulance and I’d lost so much blood that I couldn’t breathe, those were the moments that I thought I was going to die.  And, to be honest, at certain stages through my recovery, I wish I had died. 

POC: So the road back, it must have been tough.  How hard was it?

PDG: It was by far the hardest thing I’ve ever had to go through in my life.  But I want to live, I want to live my life to the fullest, so there was no option to give up, there was no option but to just keep going.  So, I wanted my life back so that’s what I did.  I got onto the road to recovery as fast as possible and just started making decisions and moves to further my future and further my recovery and get back to the life that I once had. 

POC: Most people when they’re in recovery, when they’re putting their life back together, getting back to work, back to health, they reach out and they’re supported by others.  You chose a path not to do that and to do it on your own essentially.  What led to that?

PDG:  Well it wasn’t so much that I wanted to recover on my own, because I had a lot of support.  Behind the curtains, you know, my great friends that I grew up with, and my work colleagues and my family and the navy and even the wider defence force, they all supported me.  But as far as the physical recovery and the mental recovery went, I didn’t want it to be forced upon me.  I knew my body, I knew my mind, and I knew how to deal with that better than some stranger would.  So, I took it upon myself to do my own rehabilitation.

POC: Some people in their recovery, their return to health, their return to work, find it really hard – it can be a struggle.  What do you think makes it easier or harder for individuals? 

PDG:  I think the fact that each individual person can call on their own experiences – the fact that I’ve been in the military for the past 11 years really helped me get through that, because I knew pain, and I knew struggle, and I knew how to deal with that aspect of recovery.  So, I’d never quit at the first inkling of pain.  I never quit at the first inkling of failure.  So I just kept pushing through, pushing through, and that’s what it really takes to do it.  So I’d like to think that most people, having a goal, would be able to push through those types of things to accomplish what they want. 

POC: The physical injury must have been extraordinary, but what about the mental anguish, was that tough as well?

PDG:  It was.  I had good friends to call on though.  I didn’t want to cry and be upset and have my life suffer.  I didn’t want to estrange my family and friends, I didn’t want to lose my job.  I wanted to keep all of those things and I wanted to have a happy life so instead of, you know, wallowing in my self pity, I surrounded myself in the things that I loved that made me happy.  And that’s really all it takes.  If you’re happy, then you’re going to lead a good life.  So, that’s how I did it.

POC:  You talk about support, your training, your discipline and the support from the navy.  How important was that in your recovery and return to health?

PDG:  It’s absolutely essential.  You can’t do something like that by yourself and, to be honest, even throughout your normal life you can’t do it by yourself.  You need people there to prop you up when you’re falling, or just to talk to, just to express your worries.  But a good little thing my friend told me was allow yourself to feel sadness, allow yourself to be upset, but just don’t dwell on it, you know, let it pass. 

POC:  So being there in the moment and accepting that there are tough times in a road to recovery, you think that’s a good piece of advice you got.

PDG:  Very much so, you can’t – you can’t wallow in the sadness all the time, just like you can’t be happy all the time, you know, it’s humanly and physically impossible.  So, you have to accept the good with the bad, and just understand that the bad will pass and there’s always happier times ahead. 

POC: So for people who are Comcare clients, people recovering from workplace harm in the federal workplace, what’s your message to them about how to face the struggle to get back to wellness and health?

PDG: I think I’d like people to realise that they don’t have to be bound by what other people tell them that they can and can’t do.  If you want something bad enough, you set your little goals in place, and accomplish the goals that you want to get over, the obstacles you want to get through.  And if you just keep following that road, and believing in yourself, surround yourself in a good support structure, then really you can do anything you want.  And that’s really how I did it so, it seems to have worked, so I’m going to have to back that.

POC: And your current work with the navy, tell us a little bit about that, what’s your current role?

PDG: My current role is as an instructor at the navy dive school.  Initially I was teaching maintenance, so taking apart diving helmets and scuba regulators, and then I moved onto ship’s divers course and I was teaching people the very basics of diving.  And now I’m teaching mine counter measures, so it’s a phase of the clearance divers course where we train the new candidates to locate and dispose of mines.  So it’s a very exciting job.

POC: Paul de Gelder, thanks for your service, thanks for keeping us safe, and thanks for being an inspiration for so many federal workers and members of the defence force.

PDG: Thanks Paul.