The Hero We Needed

"I always wanted to be a public servant,” Austin St John says.

The 40-year-old Roswell native is back in the US following a wildly successful visit to the UK for the fourth annual Morphicon, a convention for fans of the long-running Power Rangers franchise, which he and his co-stars brought to the Western world back in 1993 with the cult-favourite Mighty Morphin’ series.

Before his 18th birthday, St John was a bona fide small-screen hero to an army of young fans. Then in 1996, at the height of its popularity, he – with fellow originals Walter Jones and Thuy Trang – left the show. There was, by his own admission, a degree of acrimony – unpleasantness over conditions and wages, that sort of thing – but there was nobility in the choice, too. “My father was a Marine, Mom was a police officer, my brother ended up being a Marine, my grandfather was in the army… it’s in our blood. I’ve always had the calling. And one day a buddy of mine said, ‘Hey, you should come down to the local fire station and volunteer, to see if you like running 911 and, you know, fire, EMS, things like that, so I thought, ‘Absolutely! Why not?’ So I went down, got into EMS – emergency medical services – got my EMT,  and then over the years, I was like, ‘God, you know, I could do what he’s doing,’ – I was looking at the paramedic at the top of the field.”

St John gained his paramedic qualifications, as well as instructional certificates in advanced cardiac life support, paediatric life support, CPR – “all these other things I could teach” – before getting into tactical medicine and combat medicine and spending time in the Middle East attached to military operations. “It just kinda snowballed into this great career that I absolutely fell in love with, and after about 15 years of it, I needed a break. That’s when Walter was like, ‘Hey, check this out! Come see people!’”

Which brings us to St John’s impending visit to Australia for the forthcoming Supanova Pop Culture Expo. Having spent so long away from showbusiness and fandom culture, St John says it’s the stories from fans that have brought him out of hiding. “Fans will come up and tell me that myself or my castmates are the reason that, after both their parents were killed in a car accident, they didn’t commit suicide, or… the reason that they didn’t do drugs. Gutwrenching stories that I’ve heard from so many fans now, hundreds. They’re just jaw-dropping and gutwrenching and heartfelt. What an experience, to share these moments with folks who our characters meant so much to! It really sounds like we’re going to be up for another amazing reception in Australia.”