Royal Flying Doctor Service (Queensland Section) (RFDS) Flight Nurse (Midwifery) Leanne Ashbacher celebrates International Nurse’s Day and Mother’s Day combined.
RFDS Flight Nurse (Midwifery) Leanne Ashbacher is no stranger to the motherhood juggle.
Between her life-saving missions for the Flying Doctor, to helping new and expecting mothers through the Midwifery Group Practice program and running a cosmetic injectables business – Leanne manages to raise three children on the land.
Her family lives on a cattle station near Cloncurry with 10 employees who have all become ‘like’ aunts and uncles to her children educating them on riding horses, mustering, agriculture and life skills.
“I always wanted to raise our kids on a property where they have 380 thousand acres to explore,” Leanne said.
“The kids love living on the station because it is such a village here.
“As much as you like to educate your own children, it’s valuable to have other people, from all walks of life, have input.”
No day is ever the same on the property and Leanne is always switching between her role as a mother and as a nurse with the high prevalence of injuries which come with living on a station.
Whether it’s helping an employee who has fallen off a horse or getting the first aid out for the kids - there’s never a dull moment for her.
“As a cattle station mum, I know how important it is to be able to pick up the phone and make that call for help, so being able to throw on my uniform and be the person coming to help gives me great pride and satisfaction,” she said.
“The diversity and autonomy in my role is quite unique, and then we do it flying over some pretty amazing country and challenging conditions, which makes me feel pretty lucky to be doing what I do.
“We could be in a paddock scooping up a busted ringer one day, the next transferring a critically ill patient to tertiary centre, and the next delivering a baby in a remote clinic.
“For the families and ringers here, the RFDS really is the security net that they can call upon when things don’t go to plan.”
Leanne will never forget the day when her two worlds collided, and she had to call on the RFDS for her six-year-old daughter.
“On the 28 December my daughter had a fall at home,” Leanne said.
“She slipped over an inflatable outdoor water park and hit her head on the ground and started screaming.
“I knew by her scream that something wasn’t right. She quickly became, what I identified as a head injury patient, showing all the signs including pale skin, lethargic, vomiting, sleepy.
“By her third vomit I knew we needed to get to a hospital for a CT scan.”
Without hesitation Leanne contacted the RFDS and drove her little one to the nearest hospital in Cloncurry where she was flown by the RFDS (Queensland Section) to Townsville hospital.
“By the time we got to Townsville that night she was still unwell and when we got a CT scan it showed she had had a brain bleed.
“The neuro team discovered she had an arteriovenous malformation (AVM) which had ruptured.
“The procedure to stop the bleed was complex and difficult and as a result she had a stroke.”
It was every mother’s worst nightmare.
“When you are laying in a hospital bed not knowing if your child is needing a wheelchair, lifelong disability services or a funeral it is such a wake-up call,” Leanne said.
“After a long journey of rehab teaching her how to talk and walk again, today she’s back at school with her twin sister and unless you knew her, you wouldn’t be able to tell what has happened.”
The help Leanne received from the RFDS during this difficult time has only fueled her passion for working for the Flying Doctor more.
For Leanne this International Nurse’s Day and Mother’s Day are extra special as she celebrates the gift of being a mother and the organisation and industry which saved her child’s life.
