The Flying Doctor

There are plenty of strong and resilient women across rural and remote Australia, and Carol Godfrey is a wonderful example. Managing and living on a large pastoral property in South West Queensland, Carol Godfrey has seen it all. One day in 2011, when she had to move 500 cattle to a neighbours property, the cattle were released (by another person) too early and headed in the wrong direction....

To celebrate the recent release of Season 3 of the TV drama RFDS, we're re-visiting our Flying Doctor Podcast interview with renowned Australian actor, Stephen Peacocke - who plays flight nurse 'Pete Emerson' in the series. Stephen shares his memories of growing up in regional NSW, mustering cattle by motorbike on a remote station, becoming an actor, and - of course - his most recent work on the s...

In a remote community some 175 kilometers from Broken Hill, a band of local volunteers are cleaning up after a Christmas event, when young Leroy Henderson’s life is changed forever… +++ Thanks so much for listening to the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us. There has been some wonderful feedback from listeners and those we have interviewed. Word of mouth i...

They were in the middle of the remote Birdsville track. Sandy dunes and red desert stony plains...and steaming hot thermal springs. Nigel climbs out of the 4WD for a rest break and then hears a scream like he has never heard before… +++ Thanks so much for listening to the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us. There has been some wonderful feedback from liste...

Opal miner, Richard Hawkins, lives in one of the harshest environments on the planet - Andamooka in remote South Australia. Though he knows well the protocols to prevent deadly dehydration in the extreme desert heat, Richard has learnt some lessons in recent years. **** We hope you enjoyed this special episode, which we’ve shared from our incredible archive of 140 Flying Doctor yarns! It is l...

The first week in September is Jean Hailes Women’s Health Week - Australia’s largest event dedicated to the health and wellbeing of all women, girls and gender-diverse people. To celebrate and support Women's Health week in the bush, we'd like you to meet a very special Mum, who was interviewed by the Flying Doctor Podcast back in 2022! Kate Napier lived on a remote cattle station and was expectin...

RFDS Emergency Physician and GP, Dr Katrina Starmer, is a true inspiration within the field of rural and remote health care. This month, to celebrate Dr Katrina's recent 'Community Bush Champion' nomination at the National Bush Summit, we re-visit Katrina's fascinating journey to becoming an Outback Doc. From growing up in Townsville to fulfilling her childhood dream of becoming a part of the...

Rachel and Blake Bartlett were many months into a wonderful journey of travelling around Australia with their three kids in a caravan. While snorkelling on the coast at Coral Bay, everything changed when their 10 year old son Jackson was bitten by a shark. **** We hope you enjoyed this special episode, which we’ve shared from our incredible archive of 140 Flying Doctor yarns! It is lovely to...

Dr Sally Edmonds talks of the RFDS response to the severe boat accident that occurred in May 2022 in the remote location of Horizontal Falls - where there was no access by road and some 26 patients had to be transported to hospital.   **** We hope you enjoyed this special episode, which we’ve shared from our incredible archive of 140 Flying Doctor yarns! It is lovely to have you alo...

As Joe and his instructor drifted down from 12,000 feet, it was serene and peaceful, until his parachute suddenly collapsed 10 storeys from the ground, and they plummeted...  **** We hope you enjoyed this special episode, which we’ve shared from our incredible archive of 140 Flying Doctor yarns! It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us and we look forward to bringing you an excit...

Gladstone warmth. Blue, blue day. Dogs, birds, horses and kids. Rachael is out for a pleasant ride with a friend but the unexpected occurs. **** We hope you enjoyed this special episode, which we’ve shared from our incredible archive of 140 Flying Doctor yarns! It is lovely to have you along on the journey with us and we look forward to bringing you an exciting new Series 15 of the Flying Doc...

Immense stands of Iron-Bark. Crisp sunny morning. 16 yr old David Donavon is checking for storm damage along the 15km boundaries of a remote property, but has no idea that shortly he will be gasping for oxygen and on a dash to save his own life… **** We hope you enjoyed this special episode, which we’ve shared from our incredible archive of 140 Flying Doctor yarns! It is lovely to have you al...

Hot and sticky. Experienced Ranger is fishing in the Cape when a crocodile launches out of the water and mauls him, hundreds of kilometres from a hospital… Katrina Starmer, RFDS Medical Officer recalls the retrieval.  **** We hope you enjoyed this special episode, which we’ve shared from our incredible archive of 140 Flying Doctor yarns! It is lovely to have you along on the journey...

Young mother of two Michelle Dowsett suffered a shocking and confronting accident that stunned first responders. Michelle’s rare and life-threatening scalp injury required fast action to save not just her, but her unborn baby’s life as well! **** We hope you enjoyed this special episode, which we’ve shared from our incredible archive of 140 Flying Doctor yarns! It is lovely to have you along on th...

After the safe arrival of her second baby, Poppy, Lil Bryant was anxious to return home from hospital to the peace and sanctuary of Mount Doreen Station - some 400km northwest of Alice Springs. Eagerly awaiting her return was her toddler son Dawson and hubbie Sam, along with Lil's beloved outback 'station family' of employees. But just nine days after Poppy's birth, Lil awoke in the middle of the...

Ben Brooksby is in a good place. The fifth generation SA farmer - and founder of the Naked Farmer social media phenomenon - and his partner have just welcomed a beautiful baby girl into their family. And their passion and commitment to sustainable farming is literally blossoming before their eyes! But life wasn't always this good. As a young rural man, Ben tackled bouts of severe social anxiety an...

New Zealand’s Fergus Gunn considers himself a very lucky man. He is still working in a job he loves, he has a great bunch of friends and a loving, close-knit family…and he’s alive! Because on the day he rolled a 4WD while checking fences on the remote NT property of Brunette Downs, back in October 2015, it was only thanks to a series of ‘lucky’ incidences that ‘Ferg’ made it through the day. After...

The stunning images and videos that WA cattle farmer Camille McClymont shares with her Instagram followers each week, perfectly capture the epic landscapes, red dust sunsets and daily farm chores of remote station life. Camille and her husband Jack, along with their young son Lachlan, manage some 16,000 head of cattle over many thousands of hectares - and their days are often spent mustering, chec...

In this very special episode of the Flying Doctor Podcast, we're taking you on a remote rural road trip to the famous outback community of Broken Hill. And we have a Golden Ticket to one of the region's premier events! From Priscilla, Queen of the Desert to Mad Max, the remote red dirt region made world-famous on the silver screen is known as outback Australia's 'city in the desert'. It is also ho...

When Melbourne-born Dave Rogers first caught the flying bug as a teenager, he wasn't even sure where a pilot's license might take him. But after honing his skills and flight hours as an instructor - and then spending three years flying small aircraft over (and onto!) the most remote and treacherous landscapes of Papua New Guinea - today Dave is a highly respected RFDS Senior Base Pilot at Broken H...

From childhood memories of travelling the remote Kimberley landscapes of the 1960's, to arriving in a skirt and heels onto a remote WA airstrip in Kalgoorlie as a freshly minted RFDS Doctor, Dr Elizabeth Green's new memoir is an engaging, time-travelling treat. While Elizabeth was only 'officially' with the RFDS for two and a half years in the last 1980's, her love of medicine and the bush, along...

Many of us have probably dreamed of running away to a deserted island! But what if you actually lived on one, 365 days of the year? Ruby and Heinrich (and their toddler Lucas) are the full-time caretakers of Qld's remote One Tree Island. But as well as dealing with the daily and often extreme 'remote work' challenges of keeping an island - and all its visiting scientists - running smoothly, they a...

Trigger Warning: This episode contains content about suicide. "The black dog follows you...and hangs close on your flying skirts with hungry fangs". So said the ancient Roman poet Horace some 2000 years ago, as he struggled with his own 'inner demons'. Yet even today, despite our growing understanding around the science and prevalence of mental health issues, many rural and remote Australian's sti...

When Sean Pollard felt something 'bump' his leg while surfing off the Esperance coastline back in 2014, he had no idea what had hit him. Until the 3.5 meter Great White Shark that was attacking him, came back for another bite. Seconds later, having lost an arm and his other hand, Sean realised his only chance of survival was to swim some 100 meters back to the shore...to his waiting girlfriend (an...

Simon Green isn't the first country bloke to put off going to the Doctor. But when an extremely rare and sinister tumour began snaking its way down his spine, time was not on the father of three's side. In less than four weeks, his symptoms morphed from mild discomfort to nerve tingling to full-blown paralysis of his lower body. With Simon's condition quickly deteriorating, his Doctors arranged an...