The Flying Doctor

Before suffering a stroke in 2022, Esperance local, Greg Hamilton, would happily spend hours a day tackling big surf breaks on his paddle board. An enthusiastic runner, former fitness club 'junkie' and a non-smoker and non-drinker - at 72 years old, Greg was the picture of good health. Later, Doctors would tell him the Basal Ganglia Haemorrhagic stroke that caused him to topple from his surf board...

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 o...

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...

Very few fourteen-year-olds could claim to be successfully managing their own business...but Clay 'Squid' Bertram is no ordinary teenager. As well as being the entrepreneurial brains behind a unique range of custom-made sand boards, Squid has also spent the last few years clocking up some impressive, double figure fundraising totals for the RFDS Oceans to Outback fundraising challenge. Mentored by...

From flipping a ute on a remote outback road, to experiencing the excruciating pain of an Irukandji jelly fish sting, our milestone 100th episode takes you on a compelling journey through the many inspiring, authentic Australian stories that the Flying Doctor Podcast has shared so far. Visiting some of the most remote and beautiful locations across regional, rural and remote Australia, the stories...

When we're stressed or anxious, the best advice is usually just to 'just relax and take some deep breaths'. But what if you suddenly simply couldn't breath? If every breath felt like you were running out of air? WA's Leanne Schofield recently experienced such a debilitating and prolonged asthma attack, that she truly thought she was going to die. **** Thanks so much for listening to the Flying Doc...

In the adrenalin pumping sport of Motorcross, there's an obstacle section known as a 'whoops' - which is basically a series of continuous bumps that racers can ride over, as fast as they like. This is the story of the day that Murray Collins hit a 'whoops' bump, that truly lived up to its name!  **** Thanks so much for listening to the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on the j...

Kelly Foran was eagerly expecting the arrival of her first child when she started experiencing issues with her balance and co-ordination. While Doctor's initially believed she was succumbing to pre-eclampsia, her eventual diagnosis was even more confronting. Just weeks before she was due to give birth, Kelly was told she had a brain tumour the size of a 'goose egg'. Some two decades later, this in...

The Galloway family were enjoying an idyllic summer holiday together, when their Esperance caravanning paradise was suddenly shattered. The forever smiling and always energetic toddler, Parker, was pushing his scooter around a small bend on the caravan park road, when he disappeared from sight. What happened next, is every parent’s worst nightmare. Two-year-old Parker was run over by a Landcruiser...

RFDS Flight nurse, Ann Rahn and her husband Wayne are passionate advocates for the early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer. Ann wants women of ALL ages to understand that there are many different types and stages of breast cancer, that can impact women in any stage of their life. In the midst of Covid and working as a nurse in Darwin, Ann realised her breast was feeling sore. But having exp...

It's any grandparent's worst nightmare. To find your grandchild lying unconscious and unresponsive whilst in your care. But for Registered Nurse, Judy Treloar, the added logistics of trying to get her young grandson to a hospital, from the family's remote Qld property, also involved an unexpected helicopter ride across flood waters. Judy quickly realised she needed to stop 'thinking like a grandmo...

Despite plenty of setbacks and heartbreak along the way, Julia Peterson always knew she wanted to be a mum. So, when her son Taylor decided to arrive into the world 'sooner than planned', Julia and her husband Ryan faced the challenge of a premature baby with the same incredible strength and courage they are still drawing on today. Because since Taylor’s birth, Julia has also faced not one, not tw...

Paige is a young mum, living on a remote station in the centre of Queensland. With two young sons, her hubby, a governess to help care for the kids and a few other couples also working on the property, Paige is a long way from her family network, and a long way from town and city services. When Paige started to have an unquenchable thirst she did not realise the severity of her health situation. *...

There are some strong and resilient women across rural and remote Australia, and Carol Godfrey is a wonderful example. Living and managing a large pastoral property in South West Queensland, Carol 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, resulting in Carol r...

After packing up their city home in Perth to go on a sailing adventure, single dad James Brougham and his young daughters, Halle and Isla, have spent the past two years exploring, remote schooling & fishing along the stunning WA coastline, aboard their yacht ‘Salty Jocks’. In this inspiring episode, James explains why he decided to push his two daughters in a...

When Emma Turner first discovered her seven-year-old son, Fred, had Type 1 diabetes, they were literally living in the middle of nowhere. The outback Queensland town of Blackhall even boasts a memorial to Australia's famous 'black stump'! But after Fred's symptoms suddenly became life threatening, Emma found herself sitting next to the pilot in the cockpit of an RFDS plane, with her gravely ill so...

When transport company owners, Ella Reindler and her husband Dave, set out on ‘one last trucking trip’ from Perth to the remote Kimberley, they knew it would likely be their last road trip together as a couple, before their new baby arrived. But nobody expected that, at just 35 weeks pregnant, Ella’s waters would break in the middle of nowhere and hundreds of kilometres away from any medical care....

The story of Gayle and Mac Shann has been featured twice on ABC's Australian Story and it has even been voted as Australia's favourite story. After Gayle's life-changing accident on a remote cattle station in Queensland, they have had to adapt to a new life, despite one arm being amputated and the other being paralysed.  **************************** Thanks so much for listening to the Flying Docto...

Barry was travelling with some work colleagues on his way back to Mount Isa from a remote mine site when the driver lost control of the ute, it flipped and Barry was left hanging from his seat belt.  When he released his belt he fell directly on his head, instantly felt pain and saw stars. He knew it was bad. ******** Thanks so much for listening to the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have...

Danielle and Boyd Keenan live with their two young daughters, August (Augie), 11, and Willa, 9, in Broken Hills, NSW. It is a community they adore and the home where extended family are, but when Augie was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in October 2019, the remote city they love  was a long way away from diabetes treatment. ******** Thanks so much for listening to the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is...

Jane Oakley-Lohm is a central figure in the story of Marla, a remote township in South Australia that sprung up from a roadhouse created in the 1980's. Jane spent 11 years in Marla and admits she has red dirt in her veins. Though she found it lonely at times, Marla was also the hub of the district and anything that went wrong ended up on Jane's doorstep - which is just more proof that people who l...

Have we become too complacent about snakes? Tom had been parked on the side of a rural road when he stepped out to greet his wife. He felt a small sting or bite on his foot, and bent down to see a small snake disappearing under his car. He was some 30 minutes from a hospital and thought it was no big deal, as it did not hurt. ******** Thanks so much for listening to the Flying Doctor Podcast. It i...

An avid opal miner, Dan was fossicking alone, when he lost his footing and fell into a deep abandoned mineshaft, some 22 metres (7.5 stories) deep in the earth. No one knew where he was and it took more than 24 hours for the alarm to be called that he was missing. The search for Dan then began. ******** Thanks so much for listening to the Flying Doctor Podcast. It is lovely to have you along on th...

Melissa Domiati went to hospital to have her wisdom teeth removed and was not particularly  concerned or worried, but the routine procedure went terribly wrong when she had an allergic reaction to the anaesthetic. She woke up two days later, in Perth, in ICU and unable to move. Melissa's poetry can be found here:  https://mybook.to/flowersfromthefarm   Details on Melissa's work with the longevity...

Adam and his wife Kate were enjoying a family beach holiday with 8 other families. Four of the men went out on a jet ski and blow-up couch to have some fun, but things took an unexpected turn. ******** 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....