Wings for Generations

Help keep us flying for years to come

To find out more about leaving a gift in your Will, and how it will keep us flying, we’d love to have a chat - start a conversation.

“The Royal Flying Doctor Service means everything to people in isolated areas. It gives people a huge sense of security, knowing that they can get help within a very short time.” RFDS Supporter, Helen Macdonald, 93

Helen's Story

Helen grew up on Tanbar Station in southwest Queensland’s Channel Country. The nearest doctor was 240 miles away. As you can imagine, Helen shares a deep understanding of how people in remote communities rely on the Flying Doctor.

Back in the 1940s, Helen’s family was one of the first to receive a life-saving RFDS Medical Chest—still used today to put First Aid essentials into the right hands at crucial times.

Even at the age of 93, Helen can still picture its contents.

“Everything numbered, everything labelled... The doctor could give you a number of what to take and what to do over the phone or radio. Then if the patient wasn't improving, the Flying Doctor would come.”

Helen went on to train as a nurse, serving at John Flynn’s Australian Inland Mission in Birdsville and flying home for visits with the RFDS whenever she could hitch a ride.

All these years later, the Flying Doctor still holds a big place in Helen’s heart. But it’s not sentiment alone that encouraged her to remember us in her Will. It was also a practical matter.

“All my life, I've known about the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and the absolutely incredible service that they do for people. I asked myself. ‘How do they keep the planes in the sky?’ And I thought, ‘Why don’t I help out?’”