Description
The story of Robin Miller - the woman who single-handedly flew life-saving vaccines in her own plane to remote communites.
Imagine flying solo, crisscrossing the north-west of Australia in your own plane, and single-handedly delivering life-saving vaccines to remote communities.
Robin Miller did this, and at a time when most people didn't think women should be pilots at all. Her arrival seemed like magic to the outback children who received her polio vaccine on sugar cubes. Before long, she became known as the Sugarbird Lady. And this was just the start of Robin's extraordinaryreal-life adventures!
Review
This is the true story of Robin Miller, a little-known Australian pilot who changed the lives of many.
Robin lived in Western Australia and her dad owned an airline, so Robin grew up flying and loved every minute of it. Flying in those days was very different to the luxury of today, as the planes were small and took much longer. Robin dreamed of being a pilot but in the 1950s and 60s women weren’t supposed to fly planes. Robin trained as a nurse and while she was studying she also studied for her pilot licence and was one of the few women to get one.
Polio was a disease causing many problems but a simple vaccine had been discovered and was being given to everyone. The problem was getting vaccines to the remote communities in WA was just too hard, but Robin convinced the government to let her fly to these remote communities and provide the vaccines to them. So begins her remarkable career helping people, as she single-handedly flew thousand of miles to many small towns and cattle stations. She became know as the Sugarbird Lady because she gave all the children their vaccines on sugar cubes.
Robin had a remarkable life and an amazing spirit of adventure that saw her fly across her state many times, as well as across oceans, and give anything a go. Hopefully her story will inspire readers to always follow their dreams and never give up, no matter what obstacles are put in the way. Best suited to those aged 10 and up.
