24 NEWS
PRIDE OF AUSTRALIA
INSPIRATION
SUNDAY AUGUST 30 2015 COURIERMAIL.COM.AU
24
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SHAUNE WATTS
LUCY STRICKLAND
Lucy Strickland has dedicated her
career to improving the quality of
life for children in war and disaster
zones. For the past 15 years she has
worked in more than 20 countries
for several international nongovernment organisations, including UNHCR, World
Vision, CARE, Oxfam and the Norwegian Refugee
Council in the areas of educational development and
reconstruction in post-conflict and disaster zones. She has
co-ordinated emergency drought response in Ethiopia,
and worked in Haiti at the height of the cholera outbreak
in 2010. She established a school of the air in Sierra Leone
to help children excluded from formal education due to the
Ebola crisis. She worked with the Nepalese Ministry of
Education after the earthquakes to establish temporary
learning spaces and trained teachers in psychosocial
support of children. In the past 12 months, her role as the
UN’s Global Education in Emergencies Specialist has
taken her to northern Iraq where she designed an
education program for 160,000 children in refugee camps.
PROF JENNIFER MARTIN
University of Queensland’s
Institute for Molecular Bioscience
lead researcher Professor Jennifer
Martin has made a number of
significant advances for gender
equity in science in Australia. She
has addressed the severe underrepresentation of women in senior
positions in Australia by mentoring
young women and encouraging
positive stereotypes of women scientists. As a member of
the National Health and Medical Research Council
Women in Health Sciences she has campaigned for gender
equity on peer review panels for funding options and
proposed part-time options, and introduced the Elizabeth
Blackburn Fellowship to recognise outstanding women.
She has received numerous awards and is the founding
member of the Australian Academy of Science’s Science in
Australia Gender Equity Forum steering committee.
CATHY HAINS
As the head of faculty for
differentiated learning at Brisbane
girls school Lourdes Hill College,
Cathy Hains has inspired numerous
schoolchildren to reach their full
potential and enhance their
individuality. Her background is in
remote and regional Queensland,
starting school herself in an
indigenous community in the
Torres Strait and now oversees the
education, support and development of gifted and talented
students, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
and those who require learning support for disabilities. She
shows an intuitive knowledge of her students and creates
a supportive learning environment.
CHILD OF COURAGE
KAITLIN RELF
When her family’s car was swept off the road in raging
floodwaters at Munruben, south of Brisbane, Kaitlin Relf, 9,
showed incredible courage and reflexes to save her three-yearold sister Tara from drowning. The force of the wall of water had
shunted their mother, Andrea, out of the vehicle, which began
sinking quickly. Kaitlin realised she had to move fast so she
undid her sister’s seatbelt and grabbed Tara’s arm, pulling her
out the window. As the car sank, Kaitlin swam for the surface,
pushing Tara before her. The girls ballooned up in front of their
mother, who was clinging to a tree.
KEELY JOHNSON
Despite battling cancer, Burdekin
country crooner Keely Johnson found
time to raise $500,000 to fight the
disease. She has been diagnosed with a
rare brain tumour and spends much of
her time receiving treatment in
Brisbane. In April, the 16year-old founded the
Golden Octopus
Foundation, which supports oncology families and
raises money for cancer research organisations.
She started Bambini Gift Service to make and sell
jewellery, donating some profits to childhood
cancer groups. Last year, courtesy of the Make
a Wish Foundation, she recorded a song
about cancer titled Turn This To Gold with
her idol, country superstar Lee Kernaghan.
All song profits have gone to the Make a
Wish Foundation. Since she started
campaigning, she’s raised about $500,000.
HENRY SNOWBALL
Babinda youngster Henry Snowball
saved an 11-year-old boy from drowning
by showing courage and composure
beyond his years. The child was trapped
at the entrance of a drain while
swimming at Babinda Creek. Other
children watched on in shock as Henry,
15, jumped into the creek, swam to the
side of the drain to avoid the torrent of
water and reached out for the boy,
while making sure he kept him calm.
After about two minutes, he managed
to pull the boy free.
HEROISM
YOUNG LEADER
JESSE
KELLY
Five years
ago at
only 15,
Jesse
Kelly cofounded a
charity to
help the homeless from his
parents’ house in Burpengary,
north of Brisbane. As the
managing director of Moreton
Bay Regional Community
Response, he handles 150
volunteers helping 4000
people per month on top of his
day job. Mum Pauline, who
nominated him along with
husband Darren, said Jesse is
the charity’s “unsung hero”.
NATHANIAL LEIGH
What started as a simple
Christmas Eve barbecue for a
small number of
homeless people
in Palm Beach
turned into a threecourse dinner for 200
with entertainers such
as Troy Cassar-Daley
and Adam Harvey for
Gold Coast teenager
Nathanial Leigh. Now 17,
Nathanial began organising
the Christmas lunch as a
14-year-old, using Facebook
and local radio to spread the
word about the event.
While the lunch will not take
place this year,
Nathanial
continues his
community
service work
with his
involvement in
the Australian
Anti Ice
Campaign.
JAKE SULLIVAN,
CLINTEN McCARTHY,
PETER HACKWOOD,
NATHAN THOMPSON,
ADAM PEARSON
EMMA SIMPSON
Somerville House Year 11
student Emma Simpson has
motivated a group of her peers
to hold monthly afternoon tea
with war veterans. Held at St
John’s Anglican Church at
Bulimba, they organise games,
music, food and transport for
them. She was inspired to
start the group, Connect 2
Veterans, after her
grandfather, a war
veteran, passed away
and she realised others
did not have the family
in their lives that her
“Poppy” did.
Charleville police officer
Adam Pearson was driving
home when he saw the
town’s auxiliary firetrucks
rushing to what had been
reported as a grass fire. On
the Mitchell Highway about
30km from the western
Queensland town lay a truck
rolled over, loaded with more
Since his mother was
diagnosed with leukaemia in
2008 and then his youngest
child, Noah, was born in 2011
at 10 weeks premature
weighing only 1090 grams,
Shaune has dedicated his
spare time to raising money
for the Leukaemia Foundation
and Mater Little Miracles. He
organises and hosts the annual
Charity Golf Day, which raised more than $28,000 in 2015,
and Charity High Tea, which this year hosted
200 attendees. He has raised more than $200,000, which
has allowed the Mater Little Miracles to buy state-of-theart twin Kanmed Babybeds and other equipment,
including cots, humidifiers and 17 new Premier Recliner
Recovery Chairs. Plus he has raised a large sum for the
Leukaemia Foundation.
CASEY LYONS
After losing his best friend to
suicide in 2013, Casey Lyons
started a registered charity,
LIVIN, which aims to break
down the stigma of mental
illness and offer support for
those struggling with mental
health issues. The charity,
which he runs with friend
Sam Webb (far right with
Casey), uses fashion and
social media to get people
talking about mental health. While Casey works full time
as a carpenter, he still finds time to pack merchandise
orders and attend events and seminars most weekends.
LYN GLOVER
Lyn Glover contracted polio when
she was five years old after being
immunised with a faulty batch of
the Salk vaccination in 1958. Since
then, she has been a driving force
to help others in their post polio
condition. She started the Gold
Coast Post Polio Network in
2007 with five members and
now holds monthly
meetings with 30 active
members. She also
volunteers at the Gold
Coast Hospital, carries out
home visits and is a member
of Polio Australia, Spinal
Injuries Australia, Spiritus
Gold Coast and is proactive in
promoting the importance of
immunisation.
SPONSORED BY
NINE NETWORK
QUEENSLAND
than 50 tonnes of volatile
ammonium nitrate.
Volunteer firefighters
(below, from left) Peter
Hackwood, Nathan
Thompson, Jake Sullivan and
Clinten McCarthy were
tending to the driver when
there were two explosions.
Pearson was knocked
unconscious but when he
came to, he drove for help.
DARRELL THOMPSON
As the paramedic on duty in
the small north Queensland
town of Ravenshoe on the
day of the horrific Serves You
Right cafe explosion in
June, Darrell Thompson
(centre) had to deal with a
scene of mass destruction.
STEVEN ROBERTSON
Winching people injured in
the bush or at sea is all in a
day’s work for Queensland
Ambulance Service
CareFlight paramedic Steven
Robertson. During his
25 years’ service, he has
winched into all types of
terrain, including spending
a night in
Lamington
National
Park caring
for a
patient
with a
broken leg.
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