The National Medal is awarded to a person that has served at least 15 years of diligent service in a government or voluntary capacity. It recognises a person who has risked their lives or safety to assist the community in times of need, in particular, in an emergency or natural disaster. It is Australia’s most awarded civilian medal. 

Mr Campbell moved to Tuross Head in January 2000 from Sydney with his family to start a new life away from the hustle and bustle of city life. He started his own business and wanted to meet other people around town. 

He joined the VRA Marine unit at Tuross Head on April 10, 2000. He felt that this organisation was a very worthy organisation to be in because it was community focused and helped not only the people on the water but the elderly in their homes when they needed medical assistance. 

Tuross Head does not have an ambulance station within close proximity and because of this, the VRA unit, in the earlier years, was used as a first responder in a lot of cases, administering help until an ambulance could get here. 

Many a night David was called out to a person’s home to assist when a person had fallen over and couldn’t get up, was having a heart attack or stroke, or they were choking on a chop bone and couldn’t breathe.

He attended motor vehicle accidents and natural disasters that took peoples rooves off their homes and aided a person who had broken her leg at the water’s edge. This he did without a second thought. 

While in the VRA, the unit did many training exercises with other VRA organisations and travelled far afield to ensure that the unit was up to date with everything they needed to be ready for anything that may have cropped up. 

They were called out the fires in the Snowy Mountains that threatened many towns including Jindabyne. They attended search and rescues for several people, one being a 3-year-old lost in the national park near Burrill Lake among others. They have attended many water rescues and boating accidents as well as many that just broke down and needed a tow. 

In 2010 the Tuross Head VRA unit was amalgamated with other rescue organisations and became Marine Rescue. David was president at Tuross Head through this difficult time but was always positive in bringing the best of both organisation to the forefront to make a strong unit and keep the town safe. 

Mr Campbell along with other dedicated members did hundreds of hours fundraising to ensure they had raised enough money to run the unit and purchase necessary equipment to keep the unit running. 

He was instrumental in getting grants and Work for the Dole people involved to make the headquarters what it is today. He spent many many hours applying and securing grants to enable the unit to acquire the sea going boat they have today. 

“We have had a lot of fun over the years as well as many sad times. Made some amazing friends and learned so much about people and life,” his wife Janine said.

“Unfortunately, over the past 12 to 18 months, work commitments have made it difficult for David to participate fully in Marine Rescue and he has been unable to commit like he has in the past. This will hopefully change when the work commitments settle down.

“Today was celebrated with many older members there to support him and I am very proud of his achievements and believe it is a well-deserved medal.”