Annabelle Brayley - Nurses of the Outback

Neen Hawkes, Darwin, Northern Territory

In late January 2000, registered nurse Neen Hawkes was at home with her two young daughters when she heard a panicked call over the two-way radio. Linda Kruger, wife of Jason, the overseer from Mt Marlow Station, was radioing Neen to say that the station manager had been badly hurt in a terrible accident. As another person took over, Neen recognised Sue Tullys voice screaming for her to come quickly: I think John Pauls dying!

Neens blood ran cold knowing that the people involved were her good friends and neighbours, John Paul and Sue Tully. Without knowing the details of the incident, Neen understood that John Paul had been seriously injured next door at Mt Marlow, the property he and Sue managed 50 kilometres west of Yaraka in central-west Queensland, and that they needed her there urgently.

Neens husband who is known by his surname, Hawkes had been flying his ultralight plane over at Mt Marlow since daylight that morning, spotting the sheep that John Paul and the Krugers had been mustering to bring into the yards for crutching. Hawkes was on his way home to refuel before going to another mustering job when he heard Lindas call for help. He flew back to view the situation so he could report it to Neen and then direct her to the accident site. He elected to stay in the air to relay any messages Neen needed to send or receive as she organised appropriate help.

Roughly dragging her wispy honey-blonde hair back into a ponytail and shoving sunglasses over her pale green eyes, Neen grabbed her nurses bag, whooshed the girls into the car and drove the 30 kilometres next door as fast as possible. As she drove she called Andrew McCarthy at the Yaraka police station on her two-way radio, quickly told him what she knew and asked him to ring the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) and request that they be on standby for further updates. With Sues distraught voice repeatedly cutting in, screaming for her to hurry, she and Hawkes both tried to calm her, reassuring her that Neen was on her way. Flying overhead, Hawkes guided her across country, ensuring that she took the quickest possible route to the accident. As she drew nearer, he landed his plane on a road so she could collect him and he could show her the rest of the way. Hawkes landed so quickly that a wheel came off the plane, though he still managed to pull up safely.

Before the accident, John Paul had called Sue on her radio and asked her to come out and pick up any sheep struggling in the summer heat. Jason, the overseer, was mustering in the next paddock, where his wife Linda was driving another vehicle and also collecting weak sheep. Sue had met John Paul, who was on his motorbike, and together they collected a few and put them through to the next paddock, after which Sue followed him down the fence.

As she drove, Sue looked out through the fence to where she could see Linda driving across the open plain. Wondering whether theyd have enough sheep in hand, Sue was hoping that she and John Paul could have an easier time the next day to celebrate their twenty-ninth wedding anniversary. She glanced over again to see if she could spot Jason behind any sheep and, as she looked back at the road, realised too late that her husband had pulled up in front of her. Despite slamming on the brakes, she could not avoid hitting him.

On impact, the back wheel of his motorbike was caught up under the bull bar, hard against the left front wheel of the Toyota utility. Jammed upright, the bike crimped in the middle, lightly pinning John Paul, who was flung back across the bull bar then forward again.

Just over the fence in the next paddock and close enough to hear Sues screams, Linda sped across, radioing Neen and then Jason as she went. From the little coherent information Neen had, she didnt know for sure what to expect, but as soon as she saw him, she knew it was beyond bad. All of her training and experience kicked in and Neen Hawkes set about saving her good friends life.

Neen Hawkes.

Neen Gall grew up on Eastwood, her familys sheep station outside Blackall in central-west Queensland. She remembers an idyllic childhood with a sister and two brothers, until she went to boarding school, which she hated. She spent the term time counting the days till she could go home.

Her paternal grandmother was a bush nurse, and, with her encouragement, Neen always wanted to pursue the same career. After her final year of school, she went home to jillaroo for her father for a year, until she started nursing training at the Royal Brisbane Hospital. She says she didnt realise the significance of her hospital training at the time, but ever since has been grateful that it was so practical. As soon as she graduated, she and an old friend, Fiona Armstrong, took off overseas. The two bush girls had become firm friends at boarding school and had done their training at the same time. Initially neither had any specific plans to return to work in the outback and, instead, simply looked forward to travelling. They both picked up a little casual nursing work in London, in between roaming around Europe and the UK.