Major Dan Pronk: I couldn’t save my mate
MAJOR Dan Pronk spent 14 years in the Australian Army as a medical officer, but after the death of three soldiers in “quick succession”, the walls came caving in around him. HEAR THE IN-DEPTH PODCAST INTERVIEW.
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DESPITE 14 “invigorating” years in the military, the deaths of three soldiers on the battlefields of Afghanistan sent Major Dan Pronk into a tailspin.
The combat doctor joined the Defence Force in 2001 and received his medical degree with an army sponsorship before pulling on the uniform and joining his first unit six years later.
Pronk sat down with The Daily Telegraph for an extended interview during filming for the Voodoo Medics investigation.
LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW HERE
Pronk deployed to Afghanistan four times, but his second tour in 2011 “really hit home” and brought into focus the consequences of battle.
“We had a series of incidents where we had soldiers killed,” Pronk said.
“Three in a six week period, so in pretty quick succession. All of which I knew … And that redefined me personally and professionally”.
Sergeant Brett Wood died from an improvised explosive device blast on May 23, Sapper Rowan Robinson was killed by a Taliban sniper on June 6 and Sgt Todd Langley was shot dead on July 4.
“Brett was the first time that I’d responded to a mate of mine in a fairly dire situation. He was horribly injured,” Pronk said.
“We couldn’t save him sadly, so it sort of really hit home that we were playing for keeps”.
In response to Sergeant Wood’s death, Pronk began fuelling his body with coffee and energy drinks to stop himself from falling into a deep sleep and having nightmares.
He discharged from the military in 2014 to spend more time with family and despite the trauma of losing friends, Pronk looks back on his army career as “stimulating and exciting”.
“I never found it to be scary. I never feared. I never felt the terror that some people describe,” he said.
“I guess in a way it did become a little bit addictive, that rush, and you can never get quite like that and I haven’t had anything like that since.”