Plenty of important health stories grabbed attention in the Goulburn Valley this year. The community heard calls for more support, announcements of new services and touching first-hand experiences of the highs and lows of living with physical or mental illness, which The News was privileged to tell.
In early 2021, Mooroopna's Clare Brown spoke up to share what it’s like living with inclusion body myositis disease, to mark Rare Diseases Day in February.
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Clare’s rare autoimmune condition sees her body's immune system turn against itself, destroying healthy muscle tissue.
There are still more questions than answers surrounding the disease; the cause is unknown and as for effective treatments, doctors are stumped.
“People need to understand there are a lot of rare problems around, and we each face different struggles and have different needs,” she said.
“If people are aware of this, they may even want to help.”
In March, Shepparton Villages welcomed the Federal Government's announcement that almost half a billion dollars was dedicated to overhauling Australia's failing aged care system.
The funding commitment, made in the wake of a damning royal commission report, was "only a beginning", according to Shepparton Villages chief executive Veronica Jamison.
"They can't do everything at once, that's the reality,” she said.
"But other countries spend much more on aged care compared to Australia. For us to catch up, more money will need to be spent.”
In May, the news came that Goulburn Valley women would have better access to lifesaving breast cancer screening and follow-up tests, with a new BreastScreen Victoria reading and assessment service for Shepparton.
The new Shepparton service is free, and means eligible Victorians in the Goulburn Valley can access further testing closer to home.
“Our clients in the Goulburn Valley currently travel to Melbourne or interstate for further tests following their breast screen,” BreastScreen Victoria chief executive Terri Smith said in May.
After the service opened, Shepparton went into lockdown, and in September the new BreastScreen service saw two months of a troubling number of cancellations and missed mammograms in the Goulburn Valley.
The BreastScreen Victoria chief executive urged clients to keep their breast screening appointments.
In November, BreastScreen took its service on the road, visiting Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative in a mobile van as part of its biannual breast screen check-up service.
The van welcomed 40 First Nations women for a free breast screen over two days, and Rumbalara’s health and wellbeing executive manager and proud Wamba Wamba-Jarra woman Shannon Drake said it was a great effort.
“We’ve had a wonderful attendance with the breast screen van,” she said.
A proud and honest Mooroopna poet, Victoria Hebbard, shared her journey of living with mental illness with The News in July, after a creative breakthrough helped her process her emotions through poetry.
Although she knows there will be hard times ahead, the poem serves as a reminder to Victoria that she can find a beam of light during the hardest times.
“I want to be able to pick it up, this raw piece of paper, and remember this day I was so happy that I wrote this — I achieved this . . . and I can do it again,” she said.
“I know I will come down, there’s gonna be that moment, and the poem will be my saviour.”
In November there was positive news for Shepparton youth experiencing mental health problems, with the news a new mental health facility with a “home-like environment” will open in 2023.
The facility is designed to give Goulburn Valley youth a safe place to rest and recover from severe and acute mental health episodes.
The planned 10-bed residential facility run by Goulburn Valley Health is part of a $141 million Victorian Government investment.
Weeks later, it was announced five new mental health beds specifically for women who are “petrified” of the public mental health system will be launched in Shepparton.
It’s part of the Victorian Government’s more than $100 million investment to deliver Australia’s first Specialist Women’s Mental Health Service.
Testament to the fact mental illness affects all corners of the community, construction industry leaders spoke out in November.
The Civil Contractors Federation Victoria announced a plan to change the tragic fact construction workers in Australia are six times more likely to commit suicide than die as a result of workplace injuries or accidents, and they brought the initiative to Shepparton.
CCFV chief executive John Kilgour said the construction industry was facing a “perfect storm” when it came to mental health issues among workers.
Tatura’s Brad and Lou Wereszczuk of NL Drainage won Employer of the Year at the 2021 CCFV Training Awards this year, and Mr Wereszczuk said poor mental health in the industry was of huge concern to him.
He said checking in on staff members’ mental health was as important as checking the oil in a piece of equipment — as both could break down without proper care.
And as always, the Goulburn Valley community showed it can pull together to offer time and donations to those who need it, with too many fundraisers to mention in one article.
In March, Rushworth’s Paul Archer, AKA the Battery Man, who is famous for his tireless fundraising efforts, put his own hand up for help.
He was facing the double hurdle of pandemic restrictions and failing health. But he wanted to continue his mission.
“It's been a massive roller coaster,” Mr Archer said, describing the past year.
“Mental health has been the biggest thing, and then my body's deteriorating at a rapid rate. I had rheumatic fever as a kid and it affects my joints.”
Despite the challenges, Mr Archer found a way to continue his incredible legacy, and donated more than $51,000 to Goulburn Valley Health’s children’s ward in October.
Mr Archer has been raising money for GV Health for 10 years and, over that time, he has donated more than $600,000 to the children’s ward by collecting and selling batteries from the Goulburn Valley and southern NSW.
He said funding for GV Health was important to spare regional and rural families the stress of travelling to Melbourne.
‘‘I think we’ve got one of the best children’s wards in regional Victoria because of the donations we’ve raised,’’ he said.
Shepparton News journalist