At the height of Cyclone Kirrily, with predictions stating it may indeed make landfall near the Whitsundays, Jen Frisby-Young arrived at the Cannonvale SES Site ready to fill and collect some sandbags for her family home.
With her husband away at sea for work, Jen headed to the sandbag location with two of her three young children. Once she figured out how the situation worked, she began filling her first sandbag and moved it to her car, when she experienced a touch of pain.
“I had just given birth two weeks earlier, and I thought I would be okay, but I felt that pain, and that was something I didn’t anticipate,” Jen explained.
Not one to reach out for help, but rather the person who jumps up to help everyone else, Jen was surprised when two other locals filling up sandbags interrupted her and offered their assistance.
“I told them I had just given birth and immediately they were like ‘Don’t you move, do not pick up anything’,” Jen explained.
“I was so overwhelmed, and I just started crying. I am usually the one to help, and to have these people recognise that I needed some help was just amazing.”
Turning to facebook afterwards, Jen shared her thanks and was pleasantly surprised by other locals sharing similar stories of good Samaritans lending a hand.
“A few of the stories featured the very same couple too, who were just helping anyone they could.
“It really is a testament to our community, of the great people we have in our community that just want to help where they can.”
