Outrageous lyrics show a teacher desperately trying to save a student’s life during a field trip to Europe after discovering the teen passed out covered in blood and vomit.
Geoff Vezey, 52, was the assistant principal of Blackburn High School in Melbourne when he accompanied 17 students, including 15-year-old Timothy Fehring, and another teacher to Europe.
Timothy was unwell for the entire six days he was on the trip – with his teachers and a doctor mistakenly attributing his sudden illness to homesickness. He died of sepsis – an infection of his blood that caused him to go into cardiac arrest – on July 28, 2019.
The day had dire consequences, not only for Timothy and his family, but also for Mr. Vezey. The respected teacher died two years after the traumatic incident of a massive heart attack, which his family say suffered “psychiatric injuries.”
Reports published by the state coroner reveal how Mr. Vezey desperately tried to save Timothy’s life after discovering him unconscious.
Assistant director Geoff Vézey, 52, died in April last year. He had witnessed the death of one of his high school students during a school trip to Europe and had been traumatized by the incident
Timothy Fehring, 15, died after spending just six days in Europe on a school trip in June 2019
Text messages reveal the frenetic moment Mr. Vezey tried to save the boy after finding him unconscious outside a doctor’s office
Mr Vezey had taken Timothy to the doctor that day to get a certificate that would allow him to fly back to his family in Melbourne.
While he was paying the bill, the 15-year-old had gone out into the hallway, complaining that the doctor’s office was “hot and stuffy.”
It was then that Mr. Vezey found him unconscious on the ground. He tried banging on the doctor’s office door, but no one answered until 15 minutes later.
“Please call me,” he texted his colleague at 11 a.m., unable to call her.
‘Are you outside the entrance? Tim is extremely unwell… I’m on the first floor outside the doctors. I can’t wake him up.’
“Do you want an ambulance?” replied the other teacher.
‘I need medical people. He vomited on himself. There’s blood coming out of his nose and I can’t wake him up. He’s in a trance,” said Mr. Vezey.
“The doctor is helping me now,” he sent at 11:25 a.m. and was told an ambulance was on its way a minute later.
The ambulance rushed the teenager to the hospital, but unfortunately he could not be saved.
Mr Vezey’s grieving family is now suing Victoria’s Ministry of Education, claiming the stress and trauma of watching Timothy’s death contributed to the teacher having a heart attack two years later.
Mr Vézey suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and panic attacks, according to court documents Herald Sun reported.
The Vézey family’s offer for state compensation was rejected in January this year.
They now hope to take the case to County Court for a trial-only lawsuit.
Tim Fehring (pictured) died on July 28, 2019 on the sixth day of a school trip across Europe. He was revealed to have developed an infection in his blood and lungs that turned into sepsis
At his funeral, Mr Vezey’s wife Johanna Walker paid a moving tribute to the 52-year-old, along with their son Hugh.
“Geoff wore his heart on his sleeve and always told the kids how much he loved them,” she said.
Mr Vezey was a diehard Hawthorn supporter and a huge fan of Manchester United.
Ms Walker said her husband was known for his “terrible jokes” and when their three children begged for a dog, he joked to them that they had to choose between their youngest sibling or a pet.
The family eventually bought a dog named Alfred, whom Mr. Vezey “was in love with.”
Mr. Vezey is remembered as a loving father who loved Hawthorn football club
“Life with Geoff was never dull,” said Mrs. Walker. “He was talking from the moment he woke up.”
Mr Vezey’s son, Hugh, said he and his two younger sisters have always felt supported by their father, who kept an eye on their projects and exams.
“He would have given the shirt off his back for his friends and family, I never doubted that,” he said.
Ms Walker said her husband’s love for Hawthorn was so great that the final kicks off in September, he barely spoke of anything but footy.
Mr Vezey also had a taste for fashion and ‘had more clothes than any other man in Melbourne’.
His wife said her husband had brought nine pairs of shoes on a two-night camping trip.
During the lockdown, he also went online shopping with packages arriving at the family’s home several times a week.
Dad-of-three’s son said he would have given ‘the shirt off his back’ to his friends or family
His grieving family is now suing Victoria’s Education Department, alleging that Mr Vézey suffered an ‘acute psychiatric injury’ in the wake of Tim’s death, which has turned out to be a ‘major factor’ in his heart failure.
“He was an honorable man with a strong moral compass,” said Mrs. Walker.
“He was a very loving husband and father and we have been richer because we had him in our lives.
“We love him dearly and words cannot express our loss and how much we will miss him.”
Timothy had been unwell since the school group arrived in Europe on July 23, vomiting into street bins, unable to keep food down and struggling to move around.
In the six days that the 15-year-old was abroad, he lost 5 kg.
Both the staff on the trip and the doctors Timothy saw attribute his symptoms to a combination of homesickness and gastro.
Coroner McGregor said staff made the ‘wrong guess’ when treating Tim (pictured with his sister and father)
Tim’s mother Barbara Fehring said her son was a happy and healthy child who couldn’t wait to go on a trip, but added that no one listened to him when he tried to tell him how unwell he was.
“Those responsible thought he was homesick, but he wasn’t. He couldn’t wait to leave, but he didn’t like to make a fuss,” she told the Daily Mail Australia.
“He was a very fit, healthy and energetic boy who was always happy and always wanted to make the people around him happy.”
Coroner Simon McGregor advised the education department to update its policy on excursions and increase the student-teacher ratio. Both recommendations were accepted.
On the evening of June 27, the staff decided that Tim would fly home alone as his condition had not improved