Michelle’s Story – These kids almost didn’t have a mum

Michelle wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near the grain loading area, but she’d been asked to lend a hand. While turning machinery, her ponytail became caught in the auger and she was completely scalped.

Young mum Michelle Dowsett was helping out with moving grain into a silo when her hair was caught in machinery and she was completely scalped.

“My biggest fear was that I was 13 weeks pregnant and taking blood thinners,” she recalls. “I knew it meant I could bleed profusely so I had to sit quietly while I waited for the ambulance.” A road ambulance took her to West Wyalong Hospital where staff were shocked at her injuries and knew the risks to her pregnancy meant she needed specialist care. They called the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

“Once the Flying Doctors arrived, the whole atmosphere changed,” Michelle says. “As soon as I was with them I knew I was right.”

Michelle went on to have a full-head skin graft at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney.

“If it wasn’t for the Flying Doctors who came and helped me, I wouldn’t have Emma, my miracle child,” says Michelle.

“How can you ever repay someone for your life? You can’t. I’m enjoying the greatest gift there is. Life.

“There’s lots of farming accidents every day and if the Flying Doctors weren’t there and I couldn’t get the specialist medical treatment I needed, my children wouldn’t have a mum.

“Every day I open my eyes and think wow, I’m alive. I’ve got those Flying Doctors to thank for that.”

Michelle’s story is available here