Pilot’s mercy mission link to grandfather
spend this Anzac Day doing his part for his country, flying Australians and New Zealanders trapped for weeks in South America by the coronavirus home on a special Qantas repatriation flight.
Nick will have a photograph of his grandfather with him on the flight deck as he pilots the
CAROLYN Griffiths has served her country in war zones and now she is fighting on the frontline of a different kind – saving the lives of people with COVID-19.
The Royal Australian Air Force reservist squadron leader has deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and has treated patients for significant battle wounds, completed aeromedical evacuations and repatriations, and worked under the pressure of bombs going off.
Currently an intensive care nurse at Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital, she says COVID-19 is unique.
“Mentally, with COVID-19, when I first saw the younger ones, it was a bit daunting and confronting, and I guess it’s the same when you go to war and you see the younger ones hurt,” she said.
“They (COVID-19 patients) are very, very sick, initially – the big difference I’ve found is while I was deployed, beds are very close together and we work very closely together, and with the COVID patients, we’re very isolated.”
Ms Griffiths, who also works with the Royal Flying Doctor Service, is with the hospital team that recently trained an additional 150 nurses.
“PA Hospital have really put a lot of work into it and are really prepared,” she said.
Dreamliner back to Melbourne from Buenos Aires.
Keith Thorne was the last family member to visit Buenos Aires, calling in there in 1940 when it was a neutral port.
“I’m pretty proud and honoured that 80 years later I’m taking part in a special Qantas flight repatriating 150 Australians and 20 New Zealanders on Anzac Day,’’ Nick Thorne said. “To me that’s pretty special, because Anzac Day is all about remembering what happened. And I know that my grandfather, he’d be pretty proud of the fact that his grandson is doing something like that on Anzac Day.’’
THERE will be no parades today, no bands and no crowds clustered around two pennies tossed in the air at the RSL.
Today is all about reflection. Anzac Day was once a solemn event, a day of mourning and determination never to let the flower of youth again be shredded in an inhumane endeavour like war.
Those stern-faced men who once marched are all gone now but their legacy lives on. Each of us who followed have been marked by our service, and often not for the better.
We should never forget that service comes with a cost that often only reveals itself years later – to the detriment of family and loved ones and sometimes with tragic consequences.
For those who have not served, today is a perfect opportunity to check in with a veteran, ask how they are doing and remember that today is when those often traumatic moments come bubbling back up to the surface.
Without the company of comrades on Anzac Day, veterans will be hurting – that solace they could find with kindred spirits has been denied through circumstances beyond their control.
Veterans are a stoic bunch and won’t ask for help, sometimes won’t even know that they need it.
And it’s not just the old Diggers – there are thousands of younger vets in the Far North who are trying to understand the personal cost of their service.
So take a moment and reach out, give them a virtual hug and let them know that they aren’t alone today.