Memorial Painting For Moranbah Health Heroes

It was a horrific day with impacts still being felt throughout Isaac communities. This year on May 6 will mark two years since the underground explosion at Grosvenor Mine, where five miners were injured from the blast.  

The twin pressure waves caused by the methane explosion was described as being ‘like a cyclone’ by one miner, while another recalled the horror of being burnt, saying it was like being scorched by a blowtorch.

Moranbah’s emergency services rushed to the mine to treat the wounded; the emotional and physical scars from the mining mishap were felt deeply by both the miners and first responders. Some emergency workers reportedly left the mining town after the incident, saying they couldn’t continue in the industry.

More than 30 hospital staff from Moranbah Hospital were involved in the response and retrieval effort to save the five severely injured men who were in the immediate vicinity of the blast.

All survived, saying they owed their lives to an amazing team of first responders at the mine, ambulance officers, hospital staff, aeromedical retrieval staff and the RBWH Burns Unit.

In memory of the heroic actions of that day, a painting was hung in the waiting room at Moranbah Hospital last week, remembering a day that will never be forgotten.

The inscription reads, “To the staff at Moranbah Hospital. We are all so humbled and grateful for your services. Thank you so much. The Grosvenor Miners.”

A painting was hung in the waiting room at Moranbah Hospital last week, giving credit to the hospital staff who saved the lives of five men who were severely injured in the Grosvenor Mine explosion in 2020. Photo supplied: Mackay Health and Hospital Service

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