Chopper ride over flooded bridge lands new doc at work

A doctor on his way to the first day of a new job at The Townsville Hospital this week hitched a ride over the raging Burdekin River after his girlfriend made a transcontinental call to a friend in Canada who had a mate in Charters Towers with a mustering chopper.

The mate of a mate answered the call to arms flying Dr Dave Brooks, an orthopaedic registrar, over the flooded Macrossan Bridge on Saturday landing at Sellheim where Dr Brooks’ girlfriend Dr Courtney McPhail was waiting in her car.

After a drenching start, Dr Brooks started work in the operating theatres at The Townsville Hospital at 7am on Monday, finishing up his first week of work today with an impeccable attendance record.

Dr Brooks left Brisbane by road last Friday planning to meet Dr McPhail who had flown to Townsville a few days earlier to start work in the emergency department.

“I left Brisbane Friday morning and saw that the highway was flooded between Ayr and Townsville so decided to take the inland route,” he said.

“I drove to Rockhampton and then through Emerald on Saturday morning where I lost phone reception for a few hours.

“When I arrived at Charters Towers at lunchtime, the bridge had just gone under and I’d missed my opportunity by about an hour.”

Stranded in Charters Towers and due to start work in less thank 48 hours, Dr Brooks booked into a motel and phoned Dr McPhail.

“Courtney has some good friends who run an aviation business in Ingham,” he said.

“One of them lives in Canada but she was able to contact him through WhatsApp.

“He made some calls and put us in touch with a mate of a mate at a property in Charters Towers who has a mustering chopper.”

Dr Brooks waited at the Charters Towers airstrip while pilot Chris Premble made the most of a brief break in the weather, taking off from his property and flying Dr Brooks over the flooded river.

“Chris was really happy to help, he was already flying groceries to other friends who were flood-bound and he acted like he did this sort of thing every day,” he said.

“It seemed a very North Queensland thing to do and I was very grateful.

“I’d also like to give a massive shout-out to Courtney’s friend, Chris Blanch, who didn’t hesitate to help despite being a hemisphere away,” he said.

“Within hours of her contacting Chris in Canada, I was in a chopper flying over a flooded bridge in Queensland to get to my job.

“The view from the air was like nothing I’ve ever seen.”

Dr Brooks said despite the dramatic initiation to Townsville, he was happy to be here.

“I knew there was a good chance the hospital would be short staffed this week so I wanted to do what I could to get to work where I thought I could contribute,” he said.

“I’m looking forward to a busy year, to getting involved in the department and learning more in my speciality.

“It was a first day at work that I don’t think I’ll forget in a hurry.”

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