MY AN is a happy two year-old who spends most of her time laughing, playing and enjoying life in the remote, northern Vietnamese village of Y Linh Ho. She is still unaware of the dangers she faces as a young girl in one of the world’s human trafficking hotspots. Continue reading
Like many others, Roslyn Green, at 78 years of age, has been starved and mistreated at the hands of ageism.
“I feel invisible, alone and ignored,” Roslyn said.
“It’s humiliating,” she said. Continue reading
LIKE most people, Jason never expected to be homeless. But eight months ago, the unexpected became a harsh reality.
It’s mid-afternoon in inner city Brisbane and Jason smiles to passers by as he raises The Big Issue in the air, brimming with positivity. It’s hard to believe the year he’s had. Continue reading
LINDSEY Turnbull, 26, hesitated before trying on the dress of her dreams. Long, elegant and eye-wateringly expensive, it was also a size 8 – a size she hadn’t fit into since high school.
Holding her breath, Lindsey slid the dress over her head and pulled up the zip.
It fit. Continue reading
CONSTABLE Leanne Hay knows to expect a bit of chaos when she starts her shift for the Gold Coast Police. Fatalities are a sombre reality in her job as a police officer. But there are some callouts which resonate with her long after the shift is over.
“There was this one call which we knew was an attempted suicide. When my partner and I turned up at the house, we heard this grunting noise like the sound of a man getting out of a chair, and a part of you hopes that what it is.” Continue reading
IN 2011 the police found ‘Jane’, naked and fearing for her life on the streets of Brisbane. She told the officers that somebody, or something, was after her. Three years and more than 20 doctors later, Jane’s experience is evidence of an under-funded and under-resourced mental health system. Continue reading
“I DON’T usually like eating these types of salads,” Brendan said as he pointed at his plate with a plastic fork.
“It’s been a while since I’ve had a good serve of veggies though so I thought I’d better stock up,” he said
“She said there are pine nuts in it – they don’t taste too bad.” Continue reading
IT’S 3am Sunday as a third patient gets wheeled into the operating theatre at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
The night had been particularly difficult for scrub nurse Annie James, a 25-year veteran of organ donor retrievals; all three donors were 19, the same age as Ms James’ two children.
“It was one of those nights that followed the rule: see one, see three,” she said. Continue reading
FOR most people, the process of discovering their identity occurs during the teenage years. For Thalia, it only truly began after 30.
The Brisbane Christian Fellowship (BCF) meet every Sunday on their large property in Samford Valley, on the outskirts of Brisbane. This Sunday, the congregation consists of around 500, mostly families, many with young children, and several pensioners, all of whom sit in a vast auditorium.
For two hours, the Church leaders preach the word of God, His intentions for His followers, and their essential obedience. Church members open palms wide in prayer. There are no images of the cross. Continue reading
SARAH Boulton experiences life in a different way than the majority of us.
“When someone loses something, a limb, eyesight, it’s a loss for everyone, everyone in the family feels it. Some families fall apart debating whose fault it is, but not mine. My family got closer, that’s part of the reason why I don’t think it’s a bad thing I went blind.” Continue reading
FOR Lisa Mullin, the depression caused by attempting to come to terms with being transgender was overwhelming.
“I couldn’t see a reason to live,” she said. “There was no point in living.”
“I used to do lists of reasons I should live, and reasons I should die. And the reasons I could put up for reasons why I should live were very short indeed.” Continue reading
SEARCH the word ‘porn’ and Google will return 409,000,000 results in 0.14 seconds.
The first result will be PornHub, the largest pornography site on the internet and the 60th largest website in the world, boasting completely free access to their near infinite library of pornographic films and videos.
WARNING: THIS STORY DOES CONTAIN GRAPHIC CONTENT. Continue reading
MICHAEL Callaghan and Mathew Tait were best friends. They were never strong believers in coincidences. But by the age of 14 the schoolyard mates from New Zealand’s North Island had both been diagnosed with cancer.
Michael and Mathew were 11-years-old when Mathew was diagnosed. Michael supported his best friend for three years before he was also diagnosed with a cancerous Germinoma brain tumor at 14. Continue reading
JAMES Wood* is a teenage entrepreneur. The Brisbane-based businessmantravels the world expanding his empire. But beneath his success, James carries with him a burden. Every day he has to deal with crippling pain.
James is not alone. In Australia, one in five people live with chronic pain, with the figures escalating to one in three above the age of 65. Continue reading
DALBY resident Scott Doyle was 14-years-old when he passed away from a common bone cancer in March this year. He was one of 10,260 Queenslanders suffering from cancer and living in a regional area.
Scott’s mother, Andrea Bowkett, was forced to move her entire family to Brisbane for 14 months, so that Scott could receive treatment in a city-based hospital where paediatric oncology resources are available. Continue reading
Golden I 2014 