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Robin Miller (nurse)
Overview
South Perth, Western Australia
South Perth is a residential suburb 3 kilometres south of the central business district of Perth, the capital of Western Australia, which adjoins the southern shore of Perth Water on the Swan River...
), known as "The Sugarbird Lady", was an Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n aviatrix
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
and nurse. The name "The Sugarbird Lady" was given to her by outback Aboriginal
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
children during her work combatting polio. She died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
at the age of 35.
Her mother was the writer Dame Mary Durack
Mary Durack
Dame Mary Durack AC DBE was an Australian author and historian. She wrote Kings in Grass Castles and Keep Him My Country.-Childhood:...
, and her father was an aviator, Captain Horrie Miller
Horrie Miller (aviator)
Horace Clive "Horrie" Miller OBE was a pioneer Australian aviator and co-founder of MacRobertson Miller Airlines .Miller was born in Ballarat, Victoria....
.
After obtaining a private pilot licence and a commercial flying licence while training as a nurse, she approached the Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
n Department of Health to ask permission to fly to northern Western Australia in order to carry out a vaccination programme.
