Lived Experience Forum

[sainter]

Hey everyone, I am new here..been struggling with emotions and anxiety since the fires 2019-20, as well as just prior when long term partner left...anyone feel the same way...cry most days and of late my anxiety has lifted.

[greenpea]

@sainter Hi sainter and welcome to the forums. There is one image which has stuck with me. A koala crossing the road he was on fire this brave woman rushed into the fires to get him and put water on his burnt paws and the little cries that he made stay with me ..... he didnt make it and it brings tears to my eyes as I write this. We lost billions of wildlife and fauna during those fires let alone the human cost.  May we never experience anything like that again. 

Woman saves scorched koala from Australian bushfire - Bing video

[Former-Member]

Hi @sainter, welcome to the forums community 😊It's good to have you here 

Those are some major things you've been through in the last few years. I hope you'll find a welcoming and supportive community here for you 

You might be interested to look over at the community at our Life After Bushfires forum, which we created specifically to support people affected by bushfires 

[sainter]

Hey Greenpea, yeh I know of it and being a wildlife carer/rescuer I saw alot of carnage and suffering..I had koalas and wombats and feathertail gliders and monitor lizards and you name it..wombats survived thankfully...the destruction of the ecosystems due to climate change is immense, in some places koalas will never come back for they need 25yrs of stable habitat to provide food and with climate change we don't have stability anymore....I lost everything, lived remote off the grid 3hrs inland from Byron Bay...stunning place...I was the first casualty, the first one to lose everything 6sept 2019..the firies called me"australias first climate refugee".....

[AussieRecharger]

Hey @sainter 

I like that choice as a forum name.  Is there fear in there, with the isolation and the anxiety?

[greenpea]

@sainter  I am so sorry to hear of your loss. My words really arent enough though are they. I would like to also say thank you so much for your care of our treasured fauna.  You are obviously a kind and caring soul who didnt deserve what was dished out to you. Life can be hard. I wish you only the best from now on. Love peaxxx

[sainter]

yeh, I lost my partner (she left)after 18yrs just prior to the fires..she had a midlife crisis and left me isolated, then fires, then doing wildlife rescue, then moving down here in Tassie and knowing no one...been very hard..not sure what to do next

[greenpea]

@sainter Is there a wildlife rescue organisation that you can volunteer at nearby to where you are now living?

[Krishna]

Hi @sainter  So glad you have joined this forum. You'll find many kindred spirits and will receive beautiful support. I know I have. I'm so sorry to read of your loss, both partner and home. Two major events hey. It sounds like you have a passion for our beautiful wildlife and that is truly a most admirable quality. Tells me you are a compassionate sensitive caring soul and people like that, me included, are very sensitive to the pain and suffering of our earth at present. Hard not to be hey? Are there any wildlife rescue organisations close to you that you could connect with, or perhaps start one. What other skills, passions do you enjoy to keep you centred. Please be gentle on yourself and cry if you must cause that's okay. Release of strong emotions is better than withholding. Tassie certainly is beautiful and I know from time spent there that the wildlife need people like you. 

[sainter]

Hey Krishna, yeh I do wildlife rescue/care here but its pretty heartbreaking the carnage and apathy to be honest...its a sad world atm thats for sure....rod