These ladies are... FIGHTING FIT
THERE IS MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE TO THIS CENTRAL DESERT FITNESS CLASS
At first glance, this group of Aboriginal women lifting weights and striking punching bags look like your typical outback fitness group.
But the women in the backyard of the Alice Springs dialysis clinic are working out for a more powerful reason – they are fighting for their lives.
Physiotherapist Nicki Scholes- Robertson offers words of encouragement as the group stretch out on yoga mats. Nicki knows first- hand how important these classes are for generating hope for the women in the community.
Ten years ago, she was a kidney transplant recipient herself. Nicki hopes the sessions will motivate clients as they strive to qualify for a life- saving transplant.
“I started the classes to give them a sense of hope for a transplant,” Nicki told ABC News. “I was one of the very, incredibly lucky ones when my brother offered me his kidney.
“For me, it’s really generated a passion for making things better for other people who have to go through the same thing.”
Nicki started working with the Indigenous- owned and run health service Purple House in December last year. Along with supporting people waiting to be added to the transplant list, she aims to increase dialysis access for remote communities as demand continues to rise.
Almost half of the Territory’s
Indigenous population over 50 has clinical biomarkers of chronic kidney disease, according to NT Health.
Pitjantjatjara woman Selina Bob, from the remote Aboriginal community of Utju ( Areyonga), is on track to make the transplant list.
She takes the classes with her sister and cousin and encourages her family to make their health a priority.
“I feel happy,” Selina said, when asked about the program. “It’s going to be a good life out bush, going back, not stuck in a renal ward, if we get a kidney.”