End the Coward Punch

At the age of nineteen Pat Coronin's life was ended ... All because of a punch… A single punch… A coward punch. 

On Tuesday, 29th March the Year Nine 2026 program had Steve from the Pat Cronin Foundation presented ‘Be Wise’, creating awareness among Girton students about violence and Pat's story. On Saturday 16th April 2016, Pat Cronin, aged 19 at the time, went out for a few quiet drinks with some friends post-football match. While there, a fight took place. As Pat bent down to pick up a friend he suffered a powerful punch to the back of his head. After checking that his friends were ok, symptoms started to develop and after having a seizure Pat was taken to the hospital unconscious. Two days later his family made the heart-wrenching decision to turn off his life support. Even though this loss caused devastation amongst the community, family and friends, the Cronin’s took this opportunity to educate and create awareness to end the coward punch. The presentation consisted of a video, PowerPoint and personal experience information from Steve being a close friend of the Cronin family. Girton students have a new perspective of violence and have left this presentation with a powerful message to  

“Be Wise. Think carefully. Act kindly.”  

This will not be forgotten, and we thank the Pat Cronin foundation for sharing their mission with us. 

Freya Nicoletti (9 Millward)

Pat Cronin Foundation website - https://patcroninfoundation.org.au/