Caring for people & animals - Mike

Mike recently retired after 40 years of service with Ambulance Victoria.

Mike's father died of sudden cardiac arrest when he was 19 years old. It was a huge loss for his family, however Mike found his purpose in life when he decided to become a paramedic. Initially Mike trained as a paramedic before he started working on the road as a clinician and more recently a local supervisor, managing a team of 45 staff.

Mike's vegan journey began when he attended a horse riding accident. While caring for the patient, he noticed her horse was bleeding, suffering and in severe distress. The patient's mother advised she had a called a vet, however the events that unravelled still haunt Mike to this day. Mike then started asking questions about how animals were treated. He initially went vegan in 2014 for health reasons, but quickly felt deceived by animal agriculture.

After making enquiries about local animal rights groups, Mike learnt about the Animal Justice Party and felt at home with like minded people. Mike ran as a lower house candidate in the last state election and enjoyed being on the campaign trail. Seeing kangaroos in his local area and hearing about the Victorian kangaroo harvest program, Mike puts his efforts into advocating for kangaroos through letter writing, blogging and advertising campaigns.

In this episode, Mike shares the highs and lows of his emergency services career, life after retirement as well as his fourth successful attempt at the 100km Great Ocean Walk.

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