Living with epilepsy can be difficult for teenagers, but it is even tougher when you live in remote Queensland.
For 17-year-old Paige Cartwright, Roma, and her parents Garry and Amanda, the isolation and the distance from specialists has been a major challenge, so when they heard about The Great Elders Cattle Muster, the Cartwrights were pleased to throw their support behind the project initiated by two other families of teenagers living with epilepsy in the bush, the Harms and Kenny families.
More than 100 head of cattle were donated by producers from Charters Towers down to Rockhampton which were then auctioned off with the support of Elders’ Rural Services Rockhampton at CQLX in Gracemere.
Southern producers were also keen to get on board and another auction was held at the Roma store sale in late May, with the whole Muster pulling in more than $100,000 from the cattle sales and generous donations, enabling Epilepsy Queensland to establish a service on the ground in regional Queensland.
Mr Cartwright said dealing with epilepsy in the bush certainly had its tough moments, and it was great to see so many people get behind such a worthy cause.
“It’s certainly hard, not only for people with epilepsy, but other health issues, that they’ve got to travel on top of the challenging time they’re already facing,” he said.
“We were originally further west than we are now, and we’d be driving backwards and forwards from Brisbane or Toowoomba, and it wasn’t just the distance we’d be driving, but also disrupting the family by having to go to unfamiliar surroundings as well as dealing with the other matters we had to deal with.”
Organiser Maria Harms, whose son, Charlie, became the youngest Australian at 14 to stay awake during brain surgery for his epilepsy, said The Great Elders Cattle Muster was about raising awareness, just as much as funds.
She predicted the final tally to reach more than $90,000.
“It’s probably exceeded our expectations, which is always lovely,” she said.
“We feel it will make a real difference.”
Epilepsy Queensland chairman Dave Bunkerc said the organisation was thrilled to have the support of Elders, Llanarth Feedlot, CQLX, Great Keppel Island Hideaway, just to name a few, plus the generous cattle producers across the state.
“Many rural and regional communities are doing it tough with the drought, so the donations are extremely generous,” he said.
“A regional service is desperately needed with many young people living with epilepsy in the bush not knowing others in the same situation.
“We want them to know that they are not alone by connecting them with their peers and supporting them with information about local services.”
When the Harms and Kenny families came up with the idea of The Great Elders Cattle Muster to kick epilepsy out of the bush, Epilepsy Queensland patron Wally Lewis was quick to jump on board.
Support for the muster was overwhelming, and the families decided a great way to thank cattle producers for donating cattle would be for them to go into a draw for the chance to have ‘Smoko with Wally Lewis’.
The Cartwright family of Roma were the lucky winners of the draw, and got to sit down with Wally on Wednesday morning.
Mr Cartwright said his whole family was excited about the opportunity. “He's certainly been a legend in football, and we feel very privileged that we're going to meet him,” he said.
Mr Lewis said as patron of Epilepsy Queensland, the most satisfying thing for him was speaking up for those who have epilepsy and helping others who were dealing with epilepsy.
“It's going to be a pleasure to meet the Cartwrights, there's no doubt about that, and to get the opportunity to hear a little bit about them,” he said.
“It doesn't really matter how many times you hear a similar story, you don't get tired of hearing them – about the heartache, the pain that's associated with it, the sheer glee for the enjoyable parts and the good times, and they’re another family that I've had the chance to be able to be in communication with.
“Certainly for the people in the remote areas, it is a very, very tough way to begin enjoying the rest of your life if you haven't been given the necessary assistance.”
