“The RFDS is vital to us because of where we live.”
Amy and her husband live on a station just out of Broken Hill. “We work there, we live there, my husband is one of three brothers in the family. We’re all on a station and we’ve all got kids,” she says.
Husband Nick is a goat producer and often uses a Gyrocopter for mustering stock. One day he had an accident mustering and the RFDS was called to save his life.
“He landed pretty hard, but the Flying Doctor came to pick him up really quickly. He got flown to Adelaide Hospital and with the injuries he had, he ended up with fifty stitches. “
For the Mannions, trips in the RFDS plane have been a family affair. Amy has also been rescued by the Service.
“One day I went through a fence on our property on my motorbike. I ended up with four fractures in my spine, which resulted in me being airlifted out to the hospital.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service uses a remote airstrip on the Mannions property to land.
“We’ve used the Service a lot, frequent flyers you could say. We should get our card stamped at some point," Amy laughs.
The Flying Doctor is a big part of Amy’s community and regular Gymkhanas and rallies are held to raise money for the service.
“A lot of things we do as a community are to keep this service up in the sky because without it we are just so much more isolated, it’s just something we can’t do without.
We are really lucky to have the Royal Flying Doctor Service.”
