A SERIES of breakdowns meant a critical injured Sister had to be transported from Birdsville to Cloncurry for medical treatment – with most of the journey in a station truck.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Historian and museum curator Judith McKay said the tragedy of Sister Gilbert, which happened in 1929, is one of the stories shown in the new touchscreen kiosk at John Flynn Place in Cloncurry.
The ceremony celebrating the Anzac 100 Touchscreen kiosk and Flynn’s Lantern Slide Show will be held Wednesday and officially opened by former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer.
Dr McKay said Sister Gilbert is a story reflecting the remoteness of the Australian Outback and the increased need for services like the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
And the flying doctor service was only made possible by the technological leap brought about by World War One, Dr McKay said.
The flying doctor service based in Cloncurry barely existed more than a year when Sister Gilbert became ill at the Australian Inland Mission hospital in Birdsville, October 1929.
And a series of faults and breakdowns contributed to the length of time it took for Sister Gilbert to receive proper medical treatment for encephalitis lethargic, contributing to her death.
Her colleague tried to call the flying doctor based in Cloncurry using a transmitter built two months earlier.
The transmitter was Birdsville’s only link to the outside world and it did not work so Sister Gilbert was driven 400 kilometres north to Boulia.
From Boulia the flying doctor service was able to be contacted but a thick layer of dust surrounded the area and prevented the plane from landing.
Sister Gilbert was driven another 300km to Cloncurry with an ambulance meeting her for the last third of the stretch.
The ambulance broke down.
A motorised trolley was fitted with a mattress and transported Sister Gilbert the rest of the way. Sister Gilbert died about two weeks later on November 2 after days of unconsciousness.
She was buried in the Cloncurry cemetery.
The exhibit records her obituary which states “the late Sister Gilbert had a lovable disposition, and devoted her life to aiding the sick in outback places.”
It is further noted by the exhibit that little more was known about her except “she was a keen tennis player”.
More stories of the people that contributed to the Outback will undoubtedly be revealed at the ceremony Wednesday night.