A million thanks
To our unknown far and wide fraternity of people who cared - many of you will remain anonymous - known only to yourselves, your family, your bushwalking group, fellow SES volunteers, what's the collective term for "behind-the-scenes" supporters, dog handlers, the people who prayed, the list could go on.
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Thank you. We are the two hikers who "got lost" on Mount Buffalo.
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This letter in the local news is for the local people; the people who looked after our kids, who offered our family a house in Bright, who gave chocolate slice to our friends on the mountain, who gave up a precious long weekend with family and friends to search under rocks, pull those boots on again and get out there to help us not be statistics to our beautiful but potentially treacherous bush.
We can only say thank you.
We love the Australian bush, we love to visit country towns, scouring the local op shops, taking a walk on a track, chatting and sharing a story and this experience has reminded us that we love and appreciate people: people who supported the search for us - two city people lost on Buffalo. We were lost in the minds of people (where on the map were we?) but we were never lost in your hearts.
How can we ever thank you? Feel proud of your commitment to the wonderful country Australia is, if you recognise us next time we are in your town or favourite hiking place, tell us your role in our search, we would personally like to thank you.
And if we never cross paths, please believe we are truly grateful for your support - don't dismiss it as "just a little" support, because as Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody wrote, from little things big things grow.
Forever truly indebted to so many
Trevor Salvado and Cindy Bohan
Remember mental health
The Border Cancer Treatment Center is a wonderful asset to the people of Albury-Wodonga and surrounds.
And deservedly so. But when it comes to mental health services in this region the area is woefully lacking and that is due to a number of reasons that include incompetence, lack of foresight and knowledge around contemporary trends in mental health by those placed in positions of senior management in the field. Mental health services at the public level are cumbersome, clunky, often poorly resourced and sadly more often then not resourced by poorly skilled or inadequately qualified staff.
As the respected and revered psychiatrist Professor Pat McGorry stated in a recent lecture "poorly treated mental health issues among our youth leads to a lifelong journey of adversity for not only that individual but their loved ones....and broadly speaking can be a major cause of economic loss some 30 per cent of GDP comparable to cancer".
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Those in positions of power need to learn from the treatment approach around cancer. That is, prevention, early diagnosis and sustained holistic treatment.
Professor McGorry asserts that only 10 per cent of youth in the OECD receive even minimal treatment for anxiety and depression.
In Australia it is about 11 per cent.
So I hope the representatives or more importantly the voters for Farrer, Albury and Indi have mental health on the radar come these elections.
Tony Boyd, registered psychiatric nurse, masters degree in suicidology
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