A Kyneton traffic cop whose police academy colleague was killed in the line of duty is training for a charity ride to a national memorial in Canberra.
Leading Senior Constable Brett Magrath says he will look up the name of Rennie Page when he completes the 360-kilometre marathon, dubbed the Police Legacy Ride to the Wall, on May 16.
Senior Constable Page died after being struck by a car while performing a routine traffic stop on the Hume Freeway near Benalla in 2005.
About 60 officers from across Victoria will take part in this year’s three-day ride from Corryong on the NSW border to the national police memorial in Canberra. Money raised helps the families of fallen officers.
Leading Senior Constable Magrath, who has been stationed at Kyneton since 1998, says it’s a great way to honour the legacy of the 600-plus names featured on the memorial wall.
‘‘Since I joined in 1994, there’s been more than a dozen officers from Victoria who have died, most of them from the traffic management unit,’’ he says. ‘‘It will be a personal thing for me, for sure. Rennie walked into the police academy the same day I did and, when he died, he was doing the exact same thing I do, day in and day out.’’
Leading Senior Constable Magrath is putting in hundreds of kilometres in preparation for the event, starting on May 13.
Support him at give.everydayhero.com/au/brett-37
