Patient Donates $280K for New Ambulance in WA Town of 200

When Steven Petchell saw the cheque, he couldn't believe the number of zeros.

An anonymous patient had just donated $280,000 to buy a new ambulance for Koorda, a Western Australian town of just 200 people. The grateful patient wanted to thank the five volunteers who had responded when they needed emergency care.

"I felt like I had to physically see the cheque to comprehend it," said Petchell, the local ambulance chairperson. "We never thought we would see a brand new ambulance out here."

The tiny team of volunteers partners with neighboring Wyalkatchem to cover more than 150 emergency calls each year. They travel up to 100 kilometers to reach patients across the remote Wheatbelt region.

Currently, regional ambulance stations in Western Australia must fundraise to buy new vehicles. They typically receive used ambulances from Perth once metro services are done with them.

The Ripple Effect

The new ambulance will bring cutting-edge safety technology and equipment to a community that rarely gets first dibs on anything. Petchell says the improved workspace will make the grueling volunteer work safer and more efficient for the next 10 years.

But the donation's impact goes beyond equipment. Volunteer Chloe Bell believes it will inspire more locals to join the service, strengthening the backbone of rural emergency care.

"We want the community to feel a sense of ownership over the new ambulance," Bell said. The donation also raises awareness about how heavily these vital services depend on community support.

The donor's written statement captured what moved them to give. "The volunteers are worth more than the cheque written," they wrote, noting they had learned that sub-centers must fund all repairs and maintenance themselves.

Petchell emphasized that donations of any size matter deeply to rural volunteers. Even when a pensioner contributes $20, "it shows that people care about the service and what we provide."

The new ambulance will take up to 18 months to build, and Koorda's current vehicle will transfer to Wyalkatchem when it arrives, extending the gift's impact to a second community.