It’s been 57 years since Bill (Billy) Mitchell first came to Royal Far West as a baby diagnosed with polio. Here he spent almost three years receiving the specialist healthcare he required. During his stay Billy learned to walk with the aid of crutches and callipers, and later returned for reassessment and upgraded callipers. Until recently he had little memory of this period of his life.

Billy contacted Royal Far West a few years ago to try and fill some ‘gaps’ in his childhood memories. Narelle Turvey, working on the archive collection at Royal Far West, was able to find the information Billy was searching for. Not only did she find the dates and duration of his stay, she also found historic magazines, newspaper clippings and photos, including one of Billy with Sister McCoy, whom he affectionately called ‘Coy’. The most special photo found for him was one of Billy celebrating his 2nd birthday.

Billy was quite overwhelmed and said ‘I knew virtually nothing of my early years and my time at Manly is something no one had been able to tell me about. I feel like a void in my life is starting to be filled’.

After receiving this information Billy became more curious and decided to make a trip to Royal Far West. Here he met Narelle Turvey and CEO Jann Kingston who says ‘it was like a family reunion’. The visit in 2010 was a special trip for Billy in piecing together his childhood memories.

Over the years, Royal Far West has played an enormous role in the lives of thousands of country children and their families, and continues to do so today. Often a significant part of their childhood and formative years are spent visiting Royal Far West to receive the specialist healthcare they need.

Today’s children face different challenges and health issues to Billy, but the demand for specialist healthcare, early intervention and ongoing medical support remains the same. Many country families still cannot access the healthcare their children need which is why your support for the services provided at Royal Far West is so important.