COVID hero on Aus Day honours list

RETIRED midwife, registered nurse, and Bendigo local Marion Richardson is the recipient of an Order of Australia Medal as part of the Australia Day Honours list.

Ms Richardson said she had no idea she had been nominated for the award and is humbled to receive the honour.

“My thoughts are with all the other people who had worked hard and have done all their lives,” she said.

Now retired, Ms Richardson worked for 46-years as a registered nurse in the rural community of Cohuna.

“I was very honoured to be accepted into the Cohuna community and I worked at the hospital on and off for most of my life,” she said.

“It’s a wonderful community and I was very privileged and honoured to be able to care for them when they were ill and when they were having their babies.”

The 81-year-old came out of retirement at the beginning of COVID to help administer tests.

“Retired nurses were requested to re-register during COVID,” she said.

“Which for me was a wonderful experience and although I have received lots of accolades for doing it, I felt really honoured and privileged to do it.”

Among the things she gained from the experience, Ms Richardson said it was the things she learned from her younger colleagues that really made the work worthwhile.

“I was treated with great respect and as part of the team even though I was years older than the rest of them,” she said.

With the pandemic is behind us, Ms Richardson has returned to a quieter life that involves spending time with her family, getting out and about with her walking group, and her volunteer activities.

Among other things, Ms Richardson volunteers with the Bendigo Writers Festival, Vinnies in Kangaroo Flat, the VIEW club, and is a member of the Sacred Heart Community Choir.

The retiree said the experience of being of service to the community is a privilege and that she receives just as much, if not more than what she gives.

“You always gain so much more than you give, always,” Ms Richardson said.