Bush Doctor: A Memoir from the Beautiful, Rugged Heart of Outback Australia

The author of the bestselling Band-Aid for a Broken Leg comes home and discovers that being a doctor in outback Australia is at least as challenging as working for Medecins Sans Frontieres in Africa. Damien is convinced that this is the best job anywhere: beautiful skies, red earth, dramatic landings, treating families in remote communities. At a tiny, isolated hospital in central Australia, a paramedic arrives with a joey for babysitting, police help to bring in two men from a car crash, and a young man with heart failure doesn't want a transplant - he'd rather stay on Country. Damien's other job is with the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Can they reach two badly burnt men in time after a fuel tank explodes on a remote Queensland cattle station? Meanwhile, Damien and his girlfriend Maya, an aid worker living in London, try to maintain a long-distance relationship. During a violent week, Damien's exasperation boils over: the difficult cases keep arriving, and social issues can't be fixed in clinics.