The day constable Glen Humphris was killed in the line of duty on a Melbourne freeway, his partner Todd Robinson was preparing them dinner.
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Hours had gone by, and Mr Robinson had not heard from constable Humphris who had joined the Victorian Police only a year earlier, after the pair moved from the Central Coast. Mr Robinson received a knock on the door as he saw reports confirmed that four officers had been killed while on duty.
"At that moment I got a knock on the door with five senior police officers there," Mr Robinson said at the time. "My soul mate has gone."
Constable Humphris had been killed alongside leading senior constable Lynette Taylor, constable Josh Prestney and senior constable Kevin King when they were hit by a truck as they dealt with a speeding Porsche on the Eastern Freeway at Kew on April 22.
The Porsche driver had tested positive to a roadside drug test and two of the officers had decided to impound his car and called for backup.
Shortly after two other officers arrived, the truck ploughed into all four, travelling about 100km/hour when it hit. The driver had suffered a medical episode, police said at the time.
The tragedy represented the greatest loss of life in a single incident in Victoria Police's 167-year history.
Police commissioners from around the country remembered constable Humphris and his fallen colleagues yesterday as heroes who "dedicated their lives to service of others above themselves".
The commissioners paid tribute to the memories of the four fallen officers, describing them as having "made the ultimate sacrifice in serving the community", in a video released online, coinciding with National Police Remembrance Day.
"It takes a special kind of person to put on the uniform and turn up to work each shift to help those in need, knowing each time you do, you have the inherent risks of policing," Victoria Police chief commissioner Shane Patton said.
"It's our duty to make sure that the sacrifice of these heroes is never forgotten," NSW commissioner Mick Fuller said.
In the days after the tragedy, Mr Robinson said his partner wore the uniform, but "he was a person underneath".
"I want people to remember him as a bubbly outgoing personality and the nature he had," he said.
Constable Humphris, born at Gosford, started his working life as an apprentice carpenter before becoming a personal trainer, ad competed his degree at Newcastle and, later, a Masters in Exercise Physiology at the University of Sydney. He and Mr Robinson relocated out of state eight months into their relationship when Mr Robinson was offered work in Victoria.
Victoria Police said constable Humphris had "performed extremely well" at the academy, narrowly missing out on his squad's highest academic achiever award.
"We all grieved as a police force, as a police body across Australia, at the sacrifice, the loss, of these fine four officers," West Australian Police commissioner Chris Dawson said.
