It’s hard to believe that the larger-than-life Jack Stanmore was ever undersized. But the Nursing Sisters working in the newly-opened IvanhoeHospital in 1938, were so worried about baby Jack’s tiny frame and poor health, they would not let him fly. .jpg)
Jack was the first baby born in the new hospital and he needed the kind of treatment the Sisters in a small outback town were not equipped to provide.
Inevitably, the Flying Doctor was called and the famous Nancy Bird Walton appeared an hour and a half later with the vital equipment needed to keep Jack alive.
Upon seeing Jack, Nancy is said to have exclaimed. “My God, he looks like a drowned rat!” Jack has been a part of the Flying Doctor and its history ever since.
Having spent his entire life in Far West NSW, Jack and his family have relied on the Flying Doctor more than once. “My brother and his son have both used the Service,” says Jack. “The people of Ivanhoe are all behind the Flying Doctor. It’s the type of thing you look out for, whether you live in the city or the bush.”
“I was speaking to your new Medical Officer, Dr Stormer, a couple of weeks ago,” Jack said. “He’d been on duty from 6pm to 6am. In one shift he’d flown from Dubbo to Bourke, Brewarrina, Sydney, Condobolin and Orange. Try doing that in a motor car!”
Before Jack’s mum died, she told him “If you ever see Nancy Bird, you have to thank her for what she did - saving your life!” Jack had the rare opportunity to meet Nancy at the opening of the Bourke Airport Terminal in 1999. The then 84 year old aviatrix fondly recalled the flight she made to save Jack’s life and the two spent a long time chatting about the Service.
Jack and his wife Ellen are foundation members of the Flying Doctor’s Dubbo Support Group. The Group was established in 1991 to meet a large proportion of the start-up costs for the new Base. The Support Group continues to raise funds for the Dubbo Base, to help keep us flying.
Jack and Ellen’s daughter, Katrina, was at the Group’s first meeting and went on to work for the Flying Doctor as a Flight Nurse at our Bases in Bankstown and Dubbo, before taking maternity leave last year.
Jack says the Royal Flying Doctor Service of today is something “Australia can’t do without! It has to be our first priority. Providing we look after the Flying Doctor, we have a chance to survive.”