Brayley - Bush Doctors

Firstly, thanks to all the doctors who entrusted me with their stories. I appreciate your candour and your generosity, particularly when youre all so incredibly busy. I have to tell you, it was an absolute joy to write this book!

As always, lots of people helped get this collection of stories from idea to hard copy. Thanks to Andrea McNamara, my publisher at Penguin when I signed the contract, for supporting and encouraging my interest in the doctors who work in our rural and remote areas.

Subsequently, Cate Blake picked up the project and my sincere thanks for enabling me to get on with the task at hand. Youve facilitated a smooth road to production and I am very excited about this resulting collection of stories. Thanks also to Fay Helfenbaum for keeping the various editorial strands in order along the way.

Special thanks yet again to RN extraordinaire Judy Treloar, for your first responses and for generously answering my many queries about all things medical promptly and clearly. Special thanks also to my favourite daughter Chloe Miller for applying your prodigious reading experience to reviewing the first drafts, to Rosie Bryant for pitching in when I needed you, to Rosemary Young for your invaluable counsel, to Chris Belshaw for the geography lesson, and to Angus Stirton for explaining bench cuts. Accurate interpretation lies in the detail and having friends who know stuff!

Some of the doctors I obviously already knew, some I found on Twitter and some were referred to me by others. Thank you Karen Illingworth Emmott for sharing your excellent network, and Margareta Osborn for helping me find the one I was seeking.

Having rounded up the stories and written them, my grateful thanks go to Sonja Heijn for editing them with such skill; your endless warmth and good humour made the process so much fun even as you were nudging out my superfluous adjectives! And thank you Andrea Davison for proofreading; knowing you and Sonja had it in hand definitely took the pressure off.

First impressions are vital and thanks must go to Alex Ross and Louisa Maggio for producing this absolutely splendid cover. Likewise huge thanks to photographer Katrina Lehmann in Charleville (klehmannphotography.com) for your smashing photo of Dr Claire Schmidt, and to Claire for being the face of Bush Doctors. Clearly you were both perfect choices!

And last but never least, heart, hugs and warmest thanks to Ian and our immediate and extended family and friends who continue to support and encourage me.

About the Author

Annabelle Brayley trained as a registered nurse. When she married her husband, Ian, she went on to live on an isolated sheep and cattle station in south-west Queensland. Relocating in 2001 to the small rural community where they now live, Annabelle resumed employment in rural and remote health before retiring to pursue her passion for storytelling.

As a regular contributor to R.M. Williams OUTBACK magazine, Annabelle frequently tells the stories of people who live and work in the bush. She has developed a reputation for accuracy, honesty and sensitivity that enables people to tell their stories without fear of prejudice or sensationalism.

Facebook: Annabelle Brayley Australian Outback Storyteller

Twitter: @AnnabellBrayley

ALSO BY ANNABELLE BRAYLEY

Bush Nurses

Nurses of the Outback

Outback Vets

Our Vietnam Nurses

MICHAEL JOSEPH

UK | USA | Canada | Ireland | Australia

India | New Zealand | South Africa | China

Penguin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies

whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.

First published by Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd, 2017

Text copyright Annabelle Brayley 2017

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

Cover design by Louisa Maggio Penguin Random House Australia Pty Ltd

Text design by Louisa Maggio Penguin Random House Australia Pty

Cover photograph by Katrina Lehmann, Image of plane Royal Flying Doctor Service

Photographs in this book are courtesy of the author unless otherwise stated

penguin.com.au

ISBN: 978-1-74348-564-4

THE BEGINNING

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About the Book

Imagine yourself critically injured or seriously ill in the middle of nowhere. Youd be hoping like hell there was a doctor nearby to take charge; someone resourceful, whod think quickly and stay calm under pressure; someone who could, if necessary, take charge from a distance. Youd want to be in the safe and sure hands of one of these amazing bush doctors.

They might work in some of the most spectacular locations in Australia from the splendid isolation of the Kimberley and the wide open spaces of outback Queensland to the freezing icecaps of Antarctica but their profession demands long hours, extensive medical knowledge and, sometimes, courage beyond their experience.

Meet some of the extraordinary medicos who save lives everyday beyond the great divide including Jenny Wilson, the locum with itchy feet who roams Australia and beyond to help people; Rolf Gomes, who built a heart truck to take life-saving medical advice to the inland; and Molly Shorthouse who cares for peoples mental health.

And, always, theres the Royal Flying Doctors...

From the bestselling author of Nurses of the Outback, Bush Doctors is a powerful and captivating tribute to all rural and remote doctors unsung Australian heroes who truly do care

Foreword

Dr Ewen McPhee
President, Rural Doctors Association of Australia

It was thirty-one years ago that I drove into Charleville, a small country town in South West Queensland. I had completed six years of medical school, and twelve months as an intern in the largest hospital in the state at that time. While I was a country boy, having grown up in Longreach the son of a policeman and an enrolled nurse, I was ill-prepared for the life of a country doctor.

In Charleville I was the second doctor in a two-doctor hospital with larrikin GP Dr Chester Wilson and the legendary Dr Louis Ariotti as visiting surgeon. I learnt the meaning of resilience and self-confidence in those busy days and nights, facing challenges alone with few resources.