Bringing the country to the city was well and truly epitomised in Adelaide on Thursday morning, with a cattle truck delivering a small herd of cattle to entrance of the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
The Thursday event, "'Til the Cows Come Home", was attended by about 40 people, including a number of SA regional MPs, who watched about 15 Poll Hereford and Droughtmaster cows and calves be trucked to the hospital by Crane Livestock Transport, Naracoorte.
The event was to raise awareness and funds for charities Herd of Hope, founded by Megan McLoughlin, and Cottages 4 Country Care, founded by Dianne Farrell.
Herd of Hope provides support for regional organ transplant recipients and donor families, while Cottages 4 Country Care provides accommodation for regional people who have to travel to and stay temporarily in the city for medical reasons. Accommodation is also available for their families.
The charities have been working together since 2019, with the cattle delivered to the event the same animals which were part of the Bush to Bondi Cattle Drive in 2018, raising awareness for Herd of Hope.
Royal Adelaide Hospital director of transplantation Professor Toby Coates was present on horseback.
An auction was run to 'sponsor' a cow with calf at-foot, with the winning bidder, Impact100 SA chairperson Kathryn House, winning the tight tussle with a $3500 bid. Further sponsor offers through the morning took the total funds raised to more than $15,000.
Ballarat local Michelle Skewes concluded the event, sharing her emotional story and experience with organ donation.
Because we are based in the city, but provide support for country people, it can be hard to get the word out.
- DIANNE FARRELL
Ms McLoughlin said while organ donation is a tough time for families of the organ donor, providing those family members with support during the time can make a big difference.
"Instead of staying in the hospital for those proceedings, they will be given a home, that is familiar to them, because it's country," she said.
"We don't receive any funding for what we do, but we do it because it's the right thing to do.
"The organ retrieval process isn't simple, it's not straightforward, it can take up to 30 hours or more.
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"So we're giving the families a place to lie down, a place to sleep, a place to have a shower, and we'll give them a home cooked meal, in the hope that they'll return to their regional town, whether that be Burra or Bourke, and say 'this terrible incident was horrible, but we had the support of the Herd of Hope and Cottages 4 Country Care.'"
Ms Farrell said awareness of Cottages 4 Country Care, which has five cottage options through Adelaide city, was critical.
"Because we are based in the city, but provide support for country people, it can be hard to get the word out," she said.
"Today was a great way to announce the unity between us and Herd of Hope, this is our first official program together."
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