The Flying Nurse

By Prudence Wheelwright with Alley Pascoe

Published by Hachette Australia

ISBN 9780733648847

Reaching the age of 37 and encouraged to write a memoir might seem rather young to most people, but nurse and mid-wife Pru (Prudence) Wheelwright has packed a lot more into her years than most people would do in double this time.

Starting off as a country girl in New South Wales, like many children of farmers, she was sent to boarding school for her high school years, quite a long way from home in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

From living through her high school years in one of Australia's most wealthy suburbs with spectacular views over Sydney Harbour from her boarding school, she has voluntarily gone from there to a career as a humanitarian worker in some of the poorest places on earth - and loved it.

Inspired by her family, particularly her grandmother who encouraged her to never accept second best.

What eminates from her memoir is a burning desire to help people even if it means putting her own safety at risk. She studied nursing at university and instinctively knew she wanted to go into some of Australia's far flung places where she found she was highly appreciated and became part of the local communities.

A connection with the Royal Flying Doctor Service through her work getting patients to remote runways without any lighting in what seem like some pretty hair raising circumstances with lives at risk, inspired her desire to be part of this illustrious and treasured service. This was her ultimate goal.

However, so was working for Medicines sans Frontier an organisation that works on front lines and poor countries around the globe helping those who need medical care. Prue undertook further study while working more than full time, as it appears she has a great thirst for knowledge and to improve her skills to the highest levels.

In this memoir Prue describes her determination to work for MSF, working in some countries most people would shy away from. She has worked in Saudi Arabia, Tajkistan, regions within Ethiopia helping thousands of refugees from war-torn regions and travelled to North America, South America, the Antarctic, Iceland and several other countries.

Written as if she was talking to the reader, this is a particularly easy book to read. I read it cover-to-cover in three days.Her no holds back style is refreshing.

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