• #118 A Postmaster's pocketknife & a Doctor's outback dash to save Jimmy Darcy!
    Nov 20 2024

    It's the ultimate Australian outback legend. In July 1917, a young stockman named Jimmy Darcy was critically injured by a horse accident. In a desperate bid to save his life, his brothers transported Jimmy to the remote community of WA's Halls Creek, via a 12 hour cart ride. What followed was an extraordinary tale of courage, survival and incredible outback ingenuity. Jimmy Darcy would become the first patient to undergo an 'Operation by Telegraph'. And on August 2nd, 1917, all the wartime wires in WA would fall silent - as the Halls Creek Postmaster and a Perth based Doctor used morse code to try and save a stockman's life. This is the story of Dr JJ Holland, Fred Trickett and Jimmy Darcy...

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    Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us. There has been some wonderful feedback from listeners about our podcast and the incredible people we have interviewed. Word of mouth is always the best promotion for a podcast – so if you enjoy this podcast, or a specific story, please share with family and friends.

    Reviews and ratings help our podcast to be found by others, so if you can take the time to do that it would be appreciated. You can also send feedback, questions or comments through to podcast@rfds.org.au.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    35 mins
  • #116 How Mick hurt his back on the Birdsville Track
    Nov 6 2024

    When Mick Oates woke up in his campervan, completely unable to move, he couldn't even recall how he'd ended up there. As anyone who has had the opportunity to travel outback Australia already knows, taking 'the road less travelled' doesn't always go exactly to plan! But for Mick, a series of unfortunate events had finally caught up with former police officer's spine. Mick had officially 'done his back' on the Birdsville track! This is also the story of how Mick and his mates found themselves returning for a third, Big Red Bash experience in Birdsville this year - carefully hiking down a sand dune in full 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert' costume in the famous RFDS fundraising Drag Race. Seriously!

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    Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us. To find out more about Birdsville's Big Red Bash, you can head to Home - Big Red Bash There has been some wonderful feedback from listeners about our podcast and the incredible people we have interviewed. Word of mouth is always the best promotion for a podcast – so if you enjoy this podcast, or a specific story, please share with family and friends.

    Reviews and ratings help our podcast to be found by others, so if you can take the time to do that it would be appreciated. You can also send feedback, questions or comments through to podcast@rfds.org.au.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    40 mins
  • #114 Despite breaking his neck twice, Jaimen Hudson is living his best life
    Oct 23 2024

    When Jaimen Hudson became a quadriplegic at the age of 17, after crashing onto his head from a dirt bike, he refused to let his disability define him. Now a world-famous photographer and filmmaker, a husband and father and the owner of a successful eco-adventure business in the stunning Esperance region of WA, Jaimen attributes much of his life's success to his positive attitude. And it was this same positive mindset that the now 33-year-old had to draw heavily upon when, on Easter Monday 2024, he was thrown from his all-terrain wheelchair and broke his neck a second time.

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    Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us. You can find out more about Jaimen's extraordinary drone photography and eco-adventures at Print Store | Speaking Engagements | Photography – Jaimen Hudson

    There has been some wonderful feedback from listeners about our podcast and the incredible people we have interviewed. Word of mouth is always the best promotion for a podcast – so if you enjoy this podcast, or a specific story, please share with family and friends.

    Reviews and ratings help our podcast to be found by others, so if you can take the time to do that it would be appreciated. You can also send feedback, questions or comments through to podcast@rfds.org.au.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    41 mins
  • #110 Student nurse Laura was told she'd never walk or talk again
    Sep 25 2024

    Always wear a seatbelt. That's the message that Laura McKenney wants the world to hear loud and clear. As an 'unbelted' passenger in a catastrophic car accident in January 2023, the then 21-year-old student nurse was flung from a friend's vehicle, before the same car rolled back over the top of her. Remarkably, none of Laura's bones were broken. But the severe head injury she sustained, along with an injury-induced stroke, nearly cost Laura her life. Her family was told she might never wake up. That in all likelihood, she would never again walk or even talk. Today, Laura is walking her way through her second Oceans to Outback RFDS fundraising challenge. And she and her sister Emily are ready to tell their story.

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    If you'd like to join Laura's army and the other incredible fundraisers involved in this year's Oceans to Outback, simply head to Royal Flying Doctor Service : Home (oceanstooutback.org.au) And thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us. There has been some wonderful feedback from listeners about our podcast and the incredible people we have interviewed. Word of mouth is always the best promotion for a podcast – so if you enjoy this podcast, or a specific story, please share with family and friends.

    Reviews and ratings help our podcast to be found by others, so if you can take the time to do that it would be appreciated. You can also send feedback, questions or comments through to podcast@rfds.org.au.

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    28 mins
  • #107 Jillaroo Katie's chicken wrangling went wildly wrong!
    Sep 4 2024

    The life of a Jillaroo can be a challenging one. Working in all weather, sleeping under the stars and regularly setting up temporary muster camps, are all part of the job. No two days are ever the same. But for professional Jillaroo, Katie Fairfax, one of the most dangerous and challenging days of her life did not come about during a cattle muster, or a long-distance road trip...or even while handling heavy machinery. Instead, Katie's life-threatening event and her resulting retrieval by the RFDS, occurred after she started chasing a runaway chicken...and cut her artery with a lawn sprinkler!

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    Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us, as we continue to celebrate reaching our 100th episode milestone. And we hope you'll stay with us for another 100 episodes to come! There has been some wonderful feedback from listeners and those we have interviewed. Word of mouth is always the best promotion for a podcast – so if you enjoy this podcast, or a specific story, please share with family and friends.

    Reviews and ratings help our podcast to be found by others, so if you can take the time to do that it would be appreciated. You can also send feedback, questions or comments through to podcast@rfds.org.au.

    We'd also love you to join the conversation at our Facebook Group called the Flying Doctor Podcast Community

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    40 mins
  • #106 TJ's horse slipped from under him and they hit the dirt!
    Aug 28 2024

    Anyone who regularly works with livestock knows how stressful mustering time can be. The combination of time pressures and lots of large animals in a confined space can quickly become a dangerous situation. Add in months of drought, an unfamiliar horse and some confused and cranky cattle and you have the scenario that TJ and Kylie faced, during an early morning muster at Southhamption Station in Qld, back in 2014. This is a story of unexpected outcomes, crossed communication channels and plenty of stoic outback humour.

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    Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us, as we continue to celebrate reaching our 100th episode milestone. And we hope you'll stay with us for another 100 episodes to come! There has been some wonderful feedback from listeners and those we have interviewed. Word of mouth is always the best promotion for a podcast – so if you enjoy this podcast, or a specific story, please share with family and friends.

    Reviews and ratings help our podcast to be found by others, so if you can take the time to do that it would be appreciated. You can also send feedback, questions or comments through to podcast@rfds.org.au.

    We'd also love you to join the conversation at our Facebook Group called the Flying Doctor Podcast Community

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    31 mins
  • #103 Never mess with a Mulga! Ben's paralysing tale.
    Aug 7 2024

    Former tour guide, Ben Trewren, is completely at home in the remote Australian outback. Through his current logistics role with the SA charity, Operation Flinders, he regularly mentors young people in the challenges and rewards of learning basic survival skills, navigation and the simple pleasures of spending time 'out bush'. So, when this experienced adventurer found himself clinging to the top of a falling Mulga tree, his immediate thought was, 'you idiot'! Luckily (it seemed) another Mulga had broken his fall - the tree's branch leaving a small but painful puncture wound in his elbow. Just hours later, Ben realised his arm was almost completely paralysed.

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    Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us, as we continue to celebrate reaching our 100th episode milestone. And we hope you'll stay with us for another 100 episodes to come! You can also find out more about the great work being done by Ben and his co-workers and volunteers at Operation Flinders at Operation Flinders Foundation | Transforming the lives of young people There has been some wonderful feedback from listeners and those we have interviewed. Word of mouth is always the best promotion for a podcast – so if you enjoy this podcast, or a specific story, please share with family and friends.

    Reviews and ratings help our podcast to be found by others, so if you can take the time to do that it would be appreciated. You can also send feedback, questions or comments through to podcast@rfds.org.au.

    We'd also love you to join the conversation at our Facebook Group called the Flying Doctor Podcast Community

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    45 mins
  • #102 Farmer Phil vs a one tonne, charging bull!
    Jul 31 2024

    Padthaway farmer Phil Giles and his wife Julie love their cows - almost as much as they love their compost. On their family farm in south eastern SA, the Giles have spent the last 25 years developing a successful compost production and transport company, working with many of the region's businesses and local vineyards to utilise waste and to enhance agricultural production. But in 2018, Phil's run in with an angry 'bull at a gate' left a lasting impression on both him and the (now very bent) gate that nearly killed him!

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    Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us, as we continue to celebrate reaching our 100th episode milestone. And we hope you'll stay with us for another 100 episodes to come! There has been some wonderful feedback from listeners and those we have interviewed. Word of mouth is always the best promotion for a podcast – so if you enjoy this podcast, or a specific story, please share with family and friends.

    Reviews and ratings help our podcast to be found by others, so if you can take the time to do that it would be appreciated. You can also send feedback, questions or comments through to podcast@rfds.org.au.

    We'd also love you to join the conversation at our Facebook Group called the Flying Doctor Podcast Community

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    44 mins