Natalie Wood

Graphic: Natalie Wood

Generous act raises money for Flying Doctor

Date published

20 Oct 2022

The Flying Doctor is blessed to have incredible supporters who ensure that we are able to continue delivering high quality healthcare to rural and remote communities and we love to be able to highlight the great work they do.

Natalie Wood was on a holiday from South Australia with her parents when she took a trip through the RFDS Visitor Experience at Dubbo. Natalie was so inspired by the work the Flying Doctor does that she knew she wanted to show her support. 

Natalie, 57, is an incredible woman. She has Down syndrome and lives with her parents but loves to help others. 

She started making incredible handmade cards, beanies, packs of beanies and scarves and decorative covers for tissue packets. She wanted to donate these to the RFDS so they could be sold at the Visitor Experience and raise money for the South Eastern Section.

Natalie Wood

In total Natalie made and donated: 

- 200 x handmade cards
- 4 x Decorative covers for tissue packets
- 7 x Adult beanies 
- 8 x Adult beanie/scarf sets 
- 4 x Child beanies
- 2 x Child beanie/scarf sets 

Natalie’s sister Felicity was on a trip to Bathurst earlier this year and at Natalie’s request she detoured through Dubbo to drop off her incredible creations. 

Each beanie was ‘’Handmade, double thickness and machine washable” and was individually wrapped and labelled. Additionally, Natalie even provided a foam head to display the knitwear in the giftshop. Her creations were an instant hit and sold out in a matter of days.  

Visitor Experience Services Manager Michelle Wishart said it was one of the most special moments she had experienced with the Flying Doctor.

“I’m thrilled we were able to leave Natalie with such a positive impression and for her to go away and make all this, it’s just so heart-warming,” Michelle said. 

From all of us at the RFDSSE, we sincerely thank Natalie for her wonderful creations and the money that her products have raised, which will go to helping us continue our work in outback NSW.