By Kath Gannaway
The Yarra Valley community has rallied behind the family of a young Millgrove woman who is recovering in hospital after enduring a potentially lethal electric shock on Saturday 4 March.
A crowd-funding page has been set up with a target of $5000 to help the young family of four as they face a long road to recovery.
Haylee, 22, received the shock from a steel laundry sink which became live due to a damaged powerboard cord making contact with the sink.
Leading Senior Constable Kevin Bishop of Warburton Police said the accident happened around 7pm and said Haylee’s partner, Trent, with the assistance of a neighbour, commenced CPR until paramedics arrived.
Trent’s aunt, Gaynor Brown, made a heartfelt plea on social media on Saturday 11 March, saying the family desperately needs help to deal with the day-to-day impact of what she said was a terrible disaster.
Haylee was airlifted to The Alfred hospital with life-threatening injuries and put into an induced coma.
Ms Brown said while Haylee is slowly improving, the road ahead is filled with uncertainty and challenges, including financial pressures.
“Every minute Trent is not with Haylee, he is with the littlies, Elena, almost three, and Marcie who is just 14 months old,” she said.
“He is so devoted to Haylee and the children and is overwhelmed with the response from people who have reached out to help,” she said.
She said she is enormously proud of her nephew.
“He is travelling back and forth to The Alfred every day to be with Haylee then coming home to look after the girls who are missing their mum and don’t understand where she is,” Ms Brown said.
“I just don’t want him to have to worry about finances.”
Ms Brown also made a plea for people to ensure they have safety switches installed in their houses.
The incident has prompted a like warning from Energy Safe Victoria (ESV) which is investigating the incident.
ESV’s Director of Energy Safety, Paul Fearon, said Haylee’s was the second near-fatal incident in Victoria this year caused by damaged electrical cords and he urged people to throw them away.
“Old or damaged powerboards, extension cords or any electrical product with a damaged power lead should never be used, especially in the vicinity of water,” Mr Fearon said.
“All household appliances should also be regularly inspected to ensure they are safe to use.”
Mr Fearon said ESV recommends that all houses have a residual current device (RCD) installed which provides an additional level of protection and can turn off the power in a fraction of a second.
The devices had been mandatory in new homes since the early 1990s, but Mr Fearon said older homes won’t have them unless the wiring has been upgraded.
A spokeswoman for Ambulance Victoria commended the actions taken to perform CPR saying it is known that the chances of survival are best when bystanders step into provide CPR and use public access defibrillation where available.
“Bystander CPR is a critical early step in the chain of survival and you don’t need to be a paramedic or medically trained to do it,” she said.
Thirty-two people have contributed to the gofundme campaign, raising $1730 in one day.
To make a donation go to www.gofundme.com/haylee-and-trent.
