Pittwater Online News

Sea Eagles Footy Legend Max Brown Joins Fight To Save Mona Vale Hospital

Sea Eagles footy legend Max Brown

Sea Eagles footy legend Max Brown has joined the fight to save Mona Vale Hospital, saying he’s only alive because of its Emergency Department. 

Many local residents oppose NSW government plans to close Mona Vale Hospital, on the Northern Beaches, when a new private hospital opens at Frenchs Forest next month. 

Mr Brown won the NSW Rugby League Premiership with Manly-Warringah in both 1972 and 1973 and established the Men of League welfare group for previous players in 1999.  

The former winger said he felt nauseous one afternoon last October then woke up about 3am the next morning with a constricted chest and difficulty breathing. 

“I had a pretty fair idea what it was,” he said.

“I’d had lots of injuries but I’d never had a pain like that.” 

However, Mr Brown was faced with a dilemma. His wife, former top model Niki Turner, was ill at the time with gangrenous peritonitis and unable to drive.

Yet he knew that ambulances could take over an hour to arrive in Pittwater where the couple live and their home is difficult to access - so he drove himself to hospital. 

“I just sort of fell out of the car when I got there, then I staggered, holding my chest trying to stop the pain, into the emergency area.

“The triage nurse saw me and just ran towards me.”

Mr Brown had suffered a serious heart attack with two completely blocked arteries and another obstructed 60 per cent. 

He was stabilised at Mona Vale and transferred to Royal North Shore Hospital, where he had two stents fitted straight away. Doctors are continuing to monitor the condition of the other artery.  

“I’d be dead if Mona Vale Hospital wasn’t there,” he said. 

“I live in Clareville, which is the same distance to the new hospital at Frenchs Forest as Bondi to Frenchs Forest. 

“But if you live at Bondi, you have St Vincent’s Hospital, which is only seven or eight minutes away.”

Save Mona Vale Hospital committee chairman Parry Thomas said his group had revived the campaign after calls from the community, and Mr Brown was one of those who had been in touch. 

“This is not a top-down campaign; it’s coming from the bottom up,” Mr Thomas said. 

“Everything we’re doing has been driven by the community. That’s why we decided to take the fight on again. 

“One of the biggest groups in the community this has outraged is families with children. 

“So we felt we need to give them an opportunity to show their support for Mona Vale Hospital and what better way to do that than with a picnic at the park next to our great community hospital?” 

Mr Thomas said The Big Picnic will take place in the reserve next to the hospital on Sunday, September 16, from 11.30am. It will be a family day with pony rides, music and dress ups.

He said the NSW government’s plan to close Mona Vale Hospital was unfair to the community. 

“It’s an indictment of the government with its failure to invest in infrastructure, hence their willingness to invest in roads and other things they can flog off at a profit,” Mr Thomas said.

“The whole exercise is cynical. It’s only investing if it thinks it can make money.

“But when you’re talking about a hospital that provides a service to the community, they’re not interested.”  

The strength of community feeling was indicated by the number of people coming up to sign the campaign’s petition to keep Mona Vale Hospital open, Mr Thomas said. 

On Saturday outside Woolworths at Mona Vale, in the midst of weekend shopping, 650 locals had signed the petition.  

Mr Brown encouraged local residents to join the fight to keep a fully-fledged hospital at Mona Vale.    

“After 10 years of first grade rugby league I know only too well the pain that can be inflicted on the sporting field,” Mr Brown said.

“Do we want our children to suffer pain inflicted from injuries longer than necessary before treatment? 

“Do we want the sporting fields - be it soccer, netball, rugby league, rugby union, nippers - to become playing fields of anguish for parents? 

“Do we wish to see mothers giving birth on the Wakehurst Parkway, either stuck in the ‘moving carpark’ or simply because they had to drive too far, passing the now unheralded Mona Vale “once-was-a-hospital”?

Help Newport Become The Destination For Australia's Best Fish And Chips!

Owner of Ocean Master Emma Chedid - photo by Michelle Myers

With the search for Australia’s favourite fish and chip shop now underway, Newport’s much loved Ocean Master is calling on locals to vote and make it a national contender!  While Ocean Master already has notable accolades including in 5 Hot Spots Fish and Chip Guide and Buzzfeed’s 15 must try cheap eats, it is now keen to vie for national recognition.

Owner of Ocean Master Emma Chedid has lived and worked on the Northern beaches her entire life, embracing it’s iconic Aussie lifestyle from her early years through to working and raising her six kids her.  She is also second generation fish and chipper, with her family having first opened Ocean Master in North Narrabeen in the late 1970s.  Since with hard work and a secret batter recipe, Emma has set the bar high to make Ocean Master a destination fish and chip shop, attracting loyal customers from far and wide. 

Emma says that it’s freshness, quality and a secret dipping batter have set Ocean Master apart from the rest and keeps her customers coming back for more.  

She explains, “Our fish is delivered fresh from the markets every day and all our food preparation is done on site, with nothing pre-cooked.  Each and every order is cooked fresh when ordered, with our battered fish freshly dipped in our exclusive seasoned light batter. And this doesn’t just apply to our fish, we hand cut our potato scallops and make our salads as well.”

Emma adds, “We make it a priority to source Australian produce whenever possible and always cook in top grade rice bran oil.  As no meat products are cooked in the oils, only seafood and gluten free chips, it remains cholesterol free.”

Everyone has a story about fish and chips, whether it is eating them on the beach or the Friday night family feed and Ocean Master is integral to a visit to Newport beach!

Ocean Master Newport has already been nominated for Australia’s National Fish and Chip Awards, so just needs votes to showcase our delicious northern beaches offerings. Run by Fisheries research, there are two categories of Award – State and Territory People’s Choice and Judged Fish and Chips.  Voting ends 15th September 2018 with the winners announced in October.

Peter Horvat the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation’s General Manager of Communications, Trade and Marketing said, “Eating fish and chips is something that pretty much every Australian can relate to and The Fish and Chips Awards are about encouraging everyone to have their say and vote and to make sure consumers get the right information when buying.”

Voting is free and easy online at www.fishandchipsawards.com.au