Mother who was almost killed by her abusive partner now wants to find the hero ambulance workers who saved her life and inspired her to become a paramedic
- Luanne Willingham, 43, was repeatedly bashed in the head with a ceramic pot
- The assault, carried out by her partner when she was 25, had left her in a coma
- She recalled how her son, 5, cared for her before ambulance officers arrived
- The mother, who has become a paramedic, is now searching for her heroes
A mother-of-four who was inspired to become a paramedic after she was beaten by her partner is now on a desperate search to thank the ambulance workers who saved her life almost two decades ago.
Luanne Willingham, 43, was repeatedly bashed in the head with a ceramic pot and put into a coma in March 2001 at her Rochedale home in South Queensland.
The then 25-year-old recalled how her five-year-old son - now a police officer- cared for her before the emergency crew arrived.
Now, the Victoria paramedic is pleading for help to find the ambulance officers who saved her, armed only with a hazy memory and their old service numbers.
Luanne Willingham (pictured), 43, was repeatedly bashed in the head with a ceramic pot and put into a coma in March 2001 at her Rochedale home in South Queensland
'To meet them would really just bring my whole life and everything that I've gone through into a complete circle,' she told the Courier Mail.
According to the document she kept from the incident, the service numbers of the paramedics are: 5980 [level 4], 6405 [level 7] and 6960 [level 4].
The signatures cannot be recognised.
Ms Willingham says a large chunk of her memories of the assault have faded but remembers hearing a paramedic asking her if she could open her eyes.
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'Squeeze my hand Luanne', she heard the paramedic say.
She was wearing horse riding boots when her son Shaun put some towels under her head and sat beside her.
'He actually tapped on the arm of an officer and told them that my partner, who's done this, is hiding in the dog kennel,' Ms Willingham said.
She was taken to Logan Hospital.
The mother struggled through years of financial difficulties following the abuse and was forced to entrust the care of her son to his grandparents.
Luanne Willingham, 43, was inspired to become a paramedic after she was saved by first responders in 2001 when she was brutally beaten by her partner
For seven years she wasn't able to speak of the incident but once she started studying to be a paramedic four years ago, the nightmares began to fade.
She has now gone on to work as a paramedic for Ambulance Victoria and desperately wants to find those who gave her another chance at life.
'I was seriously assaulted and paramedics saved my life, so the best way to thank them was to become a paramedic myself, and do for someone else what paramedics did for me,' she said.
'To personally thank them for the impact they've had not only on my life in saving it, but my eldest son 's life, who was there at the time, and my three beautiful children that exist now.'
Anyone with information on who the mysterious heroes might be are encouraged to contact Ambulance Victoria on 03 9848 7343 or email media@ambulance.vic.gov.au.
Once she started studying to be a paramedic four years ago, the dreams began to fade
