The Tanami Track

Damian

It’s coincidental that I'm doing a bit of planning for a trip next year just west of Ruby Plains.

Many years ago, I heard the story of Jimmy Darcy, and down loaded the following a couple of days ago (probably subject to copyright):

"James 'Jimmy' Darcy who made the front page of most Australian newspapers in 1917 - no mean achievement given that the country was in the middle of the Great War.
Darcy was a stockman at Ruby Plains Station 75 km south of Halls Creek. He was mustering cattle when he fell from his horse and was seriously injured. When his friends found him they took him by buggy to Halls Creek (the journey took 12 hours) but there was neither a doctor nor a hospital in the town. The local postmaster had enough medical knowledge to realise that Darcy needed immediate medical attention. He telegraphed both Wyndham and Derby but the doctors from both towns were on holidays. He then telegraphed Perth and, using only morse code, a Dr J. Holland diagnosed Darcy as having a ruptured bladder. He had to be operated on immediately. Messages flashed back and forth in morse code.
'You must operate.' 'But I have no instruments.' 'You have a penknife and razor.' 'What about drugs?' 'Use permanganate of potash.' 'But I can't do it.' 'You must.' 'I might kill the man.' 'If you don't hurry, the patient will die first.'
Tuckett strapped Darcy to the table and began operating according to instructions he received by telegraph. The operation took seven hours - with no anesthetic. A day later complications set in. It became obvious that a doctor would have to come to Halls Creek. In the meantime Darcy's dilemma had caught the imagination of the Australian public who followed the progress of the saga with insatiable interest.
Dr Holland took a cattle boat from Perth to Derby and then travelled the last 555 km by T-model Ford, horse and sulky and foot. He finally arrived in Halls Creek only to find that Darcy had died the day before. It was this event which inspired Rev John Flynn to establish the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Darcy had not died in vain. His plight had focussed the entire nation on the problems of medical services in isolated areas and out of it grew Flynn's unique experiment in outback medicine".

I'll send you some photographs of the Tanami and surrounding area when we get back next year.

Regards

Kim