Gail O’Brien AO has been a health professional for 40 years. Originally trained as a physiotherapist, she is now executive director of the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse centre in Sydney where she also works as a patient advocate.

Gail’s husband, renowned head and neck surgeon Chris O’Brien, had a dream of opening Australia’s first fully-integrated and comprehensive cancer centre. Gail played an integral part in realising his vision after his death from brain cancer in 2009, and last year Chris O’Brien Lifehouse celebrated its 10th anniversary.

In a frank and honest conversation, Gail discusses her work carrying on Chris’ legacy, and providing advocacy in a hospital setting while dealing with her own grief and loss, not only of Chris but also her son Adam, who tragically died in his sleep less than two years later.

You can find out more about Gail here - https://www.gailobrien.com.au/and about Chris O’Brien Lifehouse here - https://www.mylifehouse.org.au/

This episode of Short Black is dedicated to Virginia (Ginny) Bellman, who sadly lost her battle with ovarian cancer in 2023.

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There’s a lot more poverty in Australia than people realise, according to Yolanda Saiz. And she should know. As CEO of the St Vincent De Paul Society in New South Wales, Yolanda sees first-hand every day the toll the current cost of living crisis is taking on everyday Australians.

One of the largest providers of homeless and domestic services in NSW, Vinnie’s is now more needed than ever, with a staggering one in three people turning to the organisation for help. And with a high number of the people who were making donations now in need of those donations themselves, how hard is it to raise funds?

Yolanda talks about being the first-ever female CEO of the organisation in NSW, and how she stays on top of innovation and best practice to lead Vinnie’s to be able to help those who need it most.

You can find out more about St Vincent’s, and how you can help, here - https://www.vinnies.org.au

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Tara Moss had it all. A former model and the successful author of 14 bestselling books, hers was a glamorous life. Until eight years ago when she was struck down by Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, a debilitating chronic pain condition for which there is no cure.

She was told by numerous doctors that she would never recover, that being wheelchair bound and unable to do anything by herself was the way it would always be.

But Tara has never been one to resist a challenge and now, after eight long years – and against all the odds – she is in remission.

In one of the first interviews she has given in Australia since receiving the good news, she opens up to Sandra about how tough the last eight years have really been for her and her family, and the sheer joy of being able to walk unaided once more and do the things that she thought she never would again.

You can find out more about Tara, her books, and her disability and pain advocacy here - https://www.taramoss.com/

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