Perth GP receives bravery commendation for disarming axe-wielding attacker

Doctor Fergus McCabe was seeing a patient at his North Perth GP clinic when he heard terrible screaming and immediately ran to help.The screams were coming from his colleague, Anna Chaney and her pregnant patient.Christopher Bernard Healey, a former patient of Dr Chaney, had become "enraged and bitter" towards her after her sent her inappropriate messages, leading her to exclude him from the practice and take out a restraining order.On the morning of the attack on September 28, Healey entered the clinic with an axe and other weapons concealed in a cardboard box and entered the consulting room where Dr Chaney was with a patient.The first that Dr McCabe knew that something was terribly wrong was when he heard screaming coming from another room."What I thought initially was that one of my colleagues was dealing with a very distressed patient and needed help," he told Nadia Mitsopoulos on 102.5 ABC Perth."But very quickly, I hadn't even reached the door, I realised it was something much, much more than that, that the scream was very shrill."Patients and colleagues took actionWhat happened next involved not just Dr McCabe, but other staff and patients springing into action."One of the reasons why I accepted the publicity that goes with this very humbling award was that I wanted to really stress was that it wasn't just me, everybody reacted," he said."The receptionist in our upstairs reception area, who I think at the time was 18 or 19, was running down the stairs to help."The 12-year-old boy who was waiting to see me with his father, his father offered help."The receptionist quickly called Triple Zero (000) to ask for police and got all the other patients out of the waiting room.Fergus McCabe says many people were exceptionally brave on the day of the attack, including Anna Chaney and the patient who was with her. (ABC News: Emma Wynne)Looking at CCTV footage later, Dr McCabe said he realised Healey had first entered another doctor's consultation room, looking for Dr Chaney."You see that [other doctor] Ashleigh incredibly bravely got her patient out," he said."As she was running out, she realised that the perpetrator had slammed the door behind him and that Anna and the patient were locked in this room with the door closed."Ash incredibly bravely swirled on her feet, ran back in, ran past the door and swung the door open and kept running past and then out the other exit, which meant that by the time I got down, the door was open and that made a huge difference."Because the door was open, I just cleaned him out. I just ran in and took him completely by surprise."Disarming the attackerBoth Dr Chaney and her patient had been grappling with the man and trying to fight him off."This patient had jumped up in between Anna and him and tried to grapple with him and grab the axe, which slowed him down and also distracted him."I was able to grab the patient, pull her out, and then throw him across the room and get Anna behind me."Dr McCabe stayed with the attacker while Dr Chaney, wounded in the abdomen, managed to crawl down the hallway to a treatment room, where staff were able to pull her in and give first aid.A few minutes later, police arrived."I still had the axe in my hand, and I was covered in blood," he said."And then the door opens and this young policeman comes in."He later learned another colleague had warned the police before they entered the room that the man holding the axe was not the perpetrator."This incredibly brave young man just ran straight past me, past a tall bloke covered in blood with an axe in his hand and into the room and secured the perpetrator with his colleague."Dr Chaney was taken to hospital and recovered from her injuries.Healey pleaded guilty to six charges including the attempted murder of Dr Chaney, endangering the life of her patient, aggravated stalking and possessing a controlled weapon, and was sentenced to 23 years in imprisonment.'Everyone did something that day'Dr McCabe said he was surprised to receive the commendation for brave conduct from the Governor-General, one of 22 awarded to individuals today."I am very humbled by that, and I didn't actually know I was nominated," he said."I do believe that Anna needs an award, and that patient needs an award."He said he agreed to speak about it publicly in order emphasise the importance of taking action when people need help."Bad things only happen because good people do nothing."And I think what I saw around me that day was everybody did something. That's what I really feel, all of us got that award."