You can help bring it closer to care
Help get the next King Air 260C ready to fly.
Steve had supported the Flying Doctor for years. He never expected to need us himself. Then, on the last leg of a motorbike trip, his heart stopped by the side of the road.
Out there, every minute counts. This Christmas, your gift can help get our next aircraft ready to fly, so we can reach the next person like Steve in time. and Jeff are country people.
Steve and Jeff are country people. Both trained nurses, they live on a farm in Stoneleigh, outside Pittsworth, where they grow roses, breed and show Red Boer goats.
“We both grew up on farms. As country people, driving is nothing and we enjoy being out on the road.”
So they set off on their motorbikes, following the Darling River to the Flinders Ranges. On the way home, crossing into Queensland on the Birdsville Track, Jeff pointed out a patch of red road ahead that looked damp. Steve slowed down.
“That’s the last thing I remember.”
In remote Queensland, help can be hundreds of kilometres away. Will you give today so no one is left waiting by the side of the road?
Your gift saves lives
Every mission depends on the right equipment being there when every second matters.
His heart stopped by the side of the road.
Steve blacked out, fell backwards, and his heart stopped. Jeff’s nurse training kicked in. He began CPR.
“He told me later that he did four or five rotations before I started breathing again.”
Steve and Jeff are experienced travellers who take every precaution. They had packed intercoms and handheld SOS devices. They’d planned several stops ahead. But out there, no one who stopped to help could get a signal on any device.
So Jeff made an incredibly difficult decision. He put Steve, with broken ribs, on the back of his motorbike and rode 30km to the clinic in Birdsville.
“When we got to Birdsville, I tried to get off the bike but the pain was so overwhelming I had a panic attack. I kept saying, ‘I’m going to die’.”
Then the Flying Doctor was on its way
Suspecting head and neck injuries, the clinic nurse called the Flying Doctor. From the moment that call came through, our team advised on pain relief and care until the aircraft reached Birdsville.
“When I heard the RFDS aircraft was coming, I felt this overwhelming sense of relief.”
With his neck protected by a collar fitted at the clinic, Steve was closely monitored throughout the flight to Toowoomba Hospital. As a nurse, he knew exactly what he was looking at.
“On board the aircraft, it was like being in an Emergency Room cubicle with wings.”
At Toowoomba, doctors found three fractured vertebrae in his neck. It took months, and some dark times, but Steve has recovered.
“I have a second chance handed to me. An opportunity to live my life, to love unconditionally and help others as much as possible.”
Emergencies don’t stop for Christmas
This Christmas, people on stations are still working. Families are still travelling. Accidents still happen.
While most Queenslanders are home with the people they love, our crews will take off and land more than 500 times, bringing more than 500 people closer to life-saving care.
Ready for the next Queenslander like Steve
For more than 20 years, our B200 aircraft have been the Flying Doctor’s trusted workhorses, clocking up more than 270,000 hours in the air. But even the most faithful aircraft can’t fly forever.
The King Air 260C has been chosen to replace them as they approach the end of their working lives. The first is on its way. Your gift this Christmas helps bring the next one closer to service, so the Flying Doctor is ready for Queenslanders like Steve for 20 years and beyond.
Jo Mahony, RFDS Nurse Manager at Charleville, has flown in the B200s since they first went into service.
“There’s nothing we can do to change the distances, but the new aircraft has the potential to save minutes in an emergency.”
As Jo has seen, minutes matter.
Please give a gift today to help bring the new King Air 260C closer to service, ready for the next Queenslander like Steve.
