On the day, my mum was in a recovery ward at the Mercy Hospital for Women in Melbourne. She had successful cancer surgery earlier in the week. On Australia Day she was going home to recover. 

Earlier that week the hospital had arranged close-by accommodation for me at Ryder Cheshire House, which is there to support patients and carers from the bush so that we can be near our loved ones at a time of need.

Ryder-Cheshire is an amazing service that is run by volunteers and I’m so grateful to them.

That morning at 4.30am I was picked up by a cheery Greek taxi driver (and proud Aussie) and driven to the hospital. 

The nurses were all efficient and thoughtful as they cared for mum with a smile. The caring team of surgeons, anaesthetists and nurses had an empathy for her special case and to put it mildly were professional and simply amazing.

Mum is in her 90s (she wouldn’t want me to tell you that, so ‘shhh’) and earlier in the week on the day of her surgery they had allowed me to hold her hand in the operating theatre until Paul the kindly (Irish/Aussie) anaesthetist and his team had done their job.

The Air Ambulance crew had had a very busy morning and we didn’t get picked up by the transit ambulance crew to go to the airport until about 1.30pm.

Mum shared the flight with a beautiful two-week- old, premature baby and in her words ‘he was good baby; he didn’t cry once!’

The baby was yet to be named but as the efficient Air Ambulance paramedic Peter Hoffman pointed out, the air-crewman and the air traffic controller along with myself were all named Peter. That’s four good reasons for the baby to be named Peter.

The Victorian Air Ambulance service is an incredible community service that operates 24/7 and I take my hat off to them all. To see them in action is both humbling and inspiring.

At Albury airport mum was picked up by our cheery and efficient local transit ambulance crew and taken safely back to her home at Westmont in Baranduda where she’s now supported by their caring staff. With their help, mum is recovering well.

Another important thing to note, Wodonga has a terrific gynaecology team in Vermont St and if you have a mum or grandma (who are in their 80s or 90s) and might need help in a sensitive area (those gentle older ladies often don’t complain and can be very tough) then don’t delay to see a doctor and make an appointment to utilise that service.

We are a lucky country where we have access to terrific health services, run by so many dedicated people (some from all over the world) who all share that wonderful Aussie trait to support their communities efficiently and professionally with a smile and no doubt at the end of the day have that well-deserved beer.

I would like to sincerely thank them all and to give them a group hug because they’re not just there for my mum but they’re there for all of us.

Please never forget; to thank our volunteers, carers, nurses, ambos, air ambulance crew, age-care staff and our medicos.

We should be proud of them, they are diverse Aussies and as medical/health care workers they are amongst the best in the world!