BOLD VISIONARIES
THE REVOLUTIONARIES
of healthcare WORDS SHIRLEY SINCLAIR
HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS NOVA Evans and Sonia Martin were frozen in their cinema seats, speechless after the documentary they’d just seen. The life-changing moment snuck up on them, hitting like a lightning bolt, just as everyone else moved on to the canapes and champagne. The film at a palliative care fundraising event told the inspirational story of a doctor who created a hospice after seeing poverty-stricken sick and elderly people dying on the streets of India. Stripped of dignity, these people had no one to hold their hands at the end of their lives. The doctor’s voice reached through the big screen and seemed to speak directly to Nova and Sonia: “Are you helping those who are most in need?”
“We just sat back in our seats and went ‘Are we? Are we really?’,” Nova remembers, as a tradesman continues working on their newly opened Sunny Street Community Healthcare Centre in Maroochydore. “We got goosebumps because we knew that if people make it through the doors of a hospital, if people make it through the doors of a general practice, they’ll get good care. But then the doctor challenged us – what if they don’t make it through the doors?” Sonia takes up that thought: “The hospital system is fantastic,” she says. “But what about the people experiencing homelessness? They’ve got nowhere to sleep, they may have drug-use issues, living in poverty, mental health issues, with no support. In our roles, we saw people consistently move through
Sunny Street co-founders Sonia Martin and Nova Evans. PHOTO: Pete Wallis 36
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27/11/2021 2:12:44 PM
