How a constable saved a woman on the other side of the world
A Victorian police officer has saved the life of an Iranian woman 15,000 kilometres away.
Constable Joel Miller was working in the Cheltenham police station watchhouse two weeks ago when a distressed man came in.
The man, an emergency ward nurse, had received a message from a family friend in Iran that his mother, who lives alone in Turkey, wanted to take her own life.
The son, who doesn't speak Turkish, had asked a friend to phone the emergency number in Turkey.
He said Turkish authorities didn't take the request for help seriously and, not knowing what else to do, he went to his local police station in Melbourne.
Constable Miller contacted the Turkish consulate, which was closed, before going to the Australian Federal Police and Interpol.
He had an address for the woman from her son, but by then the man was on a flight to Turkey and couldn't be contacted. Constable Miller used Google Maps to work through a list of similar addresses before locating the exact block of apartments the woman was living in.
Constable Miller's efforts prompted police and firefighters in Turkey to break down the woman's door. She was unconscious, but was taken to hospital and saved.
Her son returned to Melbourne this week and one of the first things he did was to drop chocolates off at the Cheltenham police station to thank the officer. He then contacted The Age to publicly recognise Constable Miller.
"I was getting ready to lose her," he said. "But he saved my mum.
"I just wanted to tell Australian people how Victorian state police and especially Cheltenham station are amazing, thoughtful, empathising, skilful and caring. That for an ordinary citizen like me they go extra miles to save the life of my only family member, even though she is a non-citizen."
Constable Miller has been a police officer for eight months. The 23-year-old said it was a relief to hear back from the woman's son.
"She was OK, so that was a load off [my shoulders]," he said.
His inspector, Bruce Kitchen, said the constable had shown persistence and determination.
"He saved someone's life 15,000 kilometres away," Inspector Kitchen said.
The son wanted to remain anonymous to protect his mother.
His mother left Iran, he said, because she had been told to stop practising her religion – Eckankar – otherwise she would be jailed.
He said her mental health had suffered after the death of his father, and had deteriorated because of her isolation in Turkey and financial problems.
The man is now trying to get his mother back to her community in Iran, before trying to raise money to apply for a visa to Australia.