No parent ever expects the unthinkable will happen to their child, but through all the grief and pain of losing a son, one Dandenong Ranges family hold immense gratitude for the people who extended their love and support in the weeks and months afterwards.
Bill and Janine Gerovasilis’ son, Elias, joined the Victoria Police Academy in October 2023, graduating in May 2024 and was posted to Belgrave Police Station for his first stint in the job.
Tragically, while enjoying something he loved, riding his motorcycle with a group, Elias suffered fatal injuries after he came off the road in Emerald and collided with a tree in August 2024.
“He only worked eight weeks, so a very, very short time, but he certainly made an impact in that short time,” Janine said.
Joining the police force was never something his parents expected, with Bill saying, “it wasn’t his lifelong dream”, but his character and personality matched the profession to a tee.
“As a kid in the school yard, we used to call him the school yard copper because he would watch over the not-so-strong kids and be mindful of the bullies as well,” Bill said.
“He had a very strong sense of right and wrong and injustice.”
“He really looked out for girls, even as he got older, he was very protective of girls,” Janine added.
This protectiveness, despite being the middle child with an older brother and younger sister, translated to his siblings.
Not knowing Elias had applied to the police academy, Janine said it came as quite a shock when he got in.
But after his passing, Janine and Bill said the stories of Elias helping and supporting others made his decision to become an officer all the more clear.
“We’ve learned so much more about him, and it’s amazing how many people have said, ‘he was there for me. He was there for my friend’s daughter in her darkest time’,” Janine said.
“It’s really nice to hear that. I wish we had known a lot more about our son before all this.”
“All these people have come forward telling us their stories, and you realise that was the direction he should have gone in, and you can understand it,” Bill said.
Despite it being the right path for him, Bill said, as a parent, you never not worry about your child, especially when they choose a high-risk job.
“As a parent, you just don’t want your child to go through that, but he wanted to go and make a difference,” he said.
“He was young and eager, the whole lot. To him, it wasn’t a job; it was something to help make a difference.”
Janine and Bill said seeing Elias pursue policing made them so proud, even if the worry never ceased.
They too became passionate and interested in every aspect of what Elias was doing, his day-to-day as an officer and how he faced certain challenges.
“You become invested because every day you want to find out, How did your day go? What did you get up to? What happened? How did you deal with that? Or how was it dealt with? And then he could tell you the good side of society or some of the seedy side of society,” Bill said.
“You worry about it every day, all day, and then when they come home, sometimes they’re grumpy, but you wanted to find out, how did you go? You really become invested, and then you view the police differently.
“They’re not ‘bloody coppers’. They’re integral in society.”
If there’s one thing Elias’s time in the police force showed Janine and Bill, it was that all officers are human and they ask everyone in the community to remember that.
“They are human beings as well; they’re just putting on that uniform to do that job, to protect society and to make a difference,” Janine said.
“Respect them as you would respect everyone else doing a job.”
On the day of Elias’s funeral at the Police Academy, Janine said that feeling was never more prevalent.
“We saw it firsthand with Elias’s farewell service. Going through a guard of honour, with officers saluting, with tears in their eyes,” she said.
“We actually said to the sergeant who was driving us, this is what the public doesn’t see, that they’re human beings as well. They feel the loss as well.
“That was the most powerful thing I’ve ever seen,” Bill added.
From the moment they said goodbye to their son, Bill and Janine said they were wrapped in support from the entire police family.
Victoria Police Legacy was at the forefront of that support, first in a quiet way and then helping the Gerovasilis start the Elias Project and Memorial Award in his name.
“It’s not just Legacy, it’s the whole blue family, from the chaplain from Legacy to Belgrave police. We’ve got that 24-hour assistance if we need it. We haven’t used it, but it’s there if we need it,” Janine said.
“They quietly step forward. They’re wherever you need them. They’re behind you, they’re in front of you, or they’re next to you. It’s there,” Bill said.
Without the support of Legacy and Victoria Police, Bill and Janine said they wouldn’t have been able to channel their grief into something productive and meaningful.
Bill said “grief is unique”, and no one grieves the same as anybody else, but accepting the help of the blue family has ensured he and his family can move forward.
“Sometimes, if you can accept it, you need that person in front of you to open a door so you can move, or you’re going to fall backwards because you’ve had a day, but there’s someone behind you who’s going to cushion you.
“And if you can accept that, it can help; it can really help you move in a positive way. If there’s anything positive to come of grief, and what they’re doing with the memorial, the education and Elias’s project, they’re trying to turn a tragedy into something, so it’s not another tragedy for somebody else.”
Janine has become a lived experience speaker with Amber Community, a road incident support and road safety education organisation.
“I speak to people who have offended on the roads, and I tell them my story. Doing my first talk recently, telling my story, you could see tears.
“You could see that it was making an impact and every other opportunity I have now, if I see a learner rider pulled over in Emerald, I will stop and go and have a chat with them.
“That’s my way of coping with all this. He’s made me a stronger person because of what’s happened.”
On behalf of Victoria Police Legacy, Janine had the honour of placing a wreath on National Police Remembrance Day on Monday 29 September.
Remembering their son, alongside Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart, who were shot dead in the line of duty in Porepunkah, and every other member who has passed, Janine and Bill encouraged everyone to take a moment to remember and to say thank you.
Although the grief of losing Elias will never disappear, advocating for change and being part of Police Legacy means Janine and Bill can carry on Elias’s memory and goal to make a difference.
“I’m grateful. I’m grieving. I’ll never stop grieving, but I’m so grateful. I’m looking at his graduation picture right now. He had a killer smile on him, this kid, and there he is, proud as punch in his uniform, and he looks fantastic in his uniform,” Bill said.
“I ask my son to help and protect people every day. If this memorial helps and protects just one person, that means everything, just one person. That’s all we want is to save one person.”
