Quick thinking learner driver Kate Montgomery saved dad’s life behind the wheel

A quick thinking learner driver has saved her dad’s life behind the wheel after he went into cardiac arrest in the back seat.

Some parents may think their teenagers’ driving lessons are heart-stopping, but Scott Montgomery has taken those fears to a whole new level.

With only a handful of hours driving behind her, 16-year-old Kate Montgomery was behind the wheel as her family passed through Warrnambool and she was thrust into an emergency situation most experts would struggle to deal with.

Relaxing in the back seat and enjoying a coffee, her 54-year-old father Scott suddenly let out a strange sound and slumped down, his heart stopped in cardiac arrest.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Rowina Montgomery immediately realised the peril her husband was in and switched from driving instructor to nurse mode, urging Kate to pull over to the side of the highway.

Kate Montgomery with her dad Scott. Picture: Tony Gough.

“I have only done about five hours driving practice, usually just from the house to the beach every day, so I hadn’t really been on many big roads,” Kate said.

“Mum was very harsh on what side of the road I had to get out of because she didn’t want me to run out onto the road and be hit by a car.

“She was stressing for me to pull over. Luckily, I was in the far left lane, so I didn’t have to cross any lanes to pull over.”

With help from her other daughter Penny, 20, Ms Montgomery lifted Mr Montgomery out of the car and they began CPR, however her husband remained completely unresponsive.

But in a fortunate twist of fate Kate had pulled over in exactly the right place at the right time.

Driving a car behind her was off-duty paramedic Brittany Sinclair with her partner nurse Verity, and the pair rushed to help.

“I just thought somebody was spewing on the ground but, when got closer, realised they were doing compressions,” Ms Sinclair said.

“It wasn’t an ideal place to be doing an arrest so I got out, said I was a paramedic and we dragged him up onto the grass a little bit more.”

While an ambulance was on rout Ms Sinclair took over the compressions and dispatched a bystander to a nearby car dealership to retrieve a defibrillator, which was finally able to shock

Mr Montgomery back to life 11 minutes after his arrest.

Scott Montgomery with his wife Row and children Eddie, Penny, and Kate.Picture: Tony Gough.

“I remember coming to by the side of the road and I thought we’d had a car accident. I thought I’d survived and everyone else was dead,” Mr Montgomery said.

“Then I realised it was something about me because I can remember Row holding my hand and saying ‘I love you Scotty. I love you, Scotty’.”

An ambulance took Mr Montgomery to Warrnambool Hospital where he was stabilised before being flown to Geelong hospital’s cardiac unit.

In a further complication Mr Montgomery was Covid positive so had to remain in an isolation room for 14 days before undergoing surgery to have a defibrillator installed in his chest, after scans revealed he was suffering cardiomyopathy.

A fortnight after leaving hospital Mr Montgomery again crashed and was rushed to Richmond’s Epworth Hospital, where cardiologists drained 800ml of fluid from near his heart and placed him in a rehabilitation program that has finally got him back on his feet.

“I was really anxious about what it going to be like for me to get better. But once I left hospital for the second time, I had this rehab program to look forward to, which I’ve just completed last week,” he said.

“I’ve been really thrilled with it .”It will be another six months before Mr Montgomery is cleared to drive again but, having seen Kate’s driving skills under the most extreme pressure, there are no concerns about her abilities.

“If she doesn’t pass it pass her Ps I don’t know what’s going on. I think she deserves a pass after surviving that,” Ms Montgomery said.