Sarah Jane Mitchell 15 Mar 1966 - 22 May 2008
BSc (Lond) 1988 MBBS (Lond) 1991 MRCP(UK) 1996 CCST (Paediatrics) 2003 FRACP (2005)
Sarah Jane Mitchell was born in Yateley, Hampshire, daughter of Desmond and Liz Mitchell. Sarah died in Perth, WA on 22 May 2008, after a long battle with breast cancer. She is survived by her husband, Steve Cartledge, whom she married in 1999, having first met on a trip to Kenya with mutual friends in 1991. They were together for 17 years.
Sarah was brought up in Yateley with her siblings John and Catherine and educated at Yateley School in Hampshire until 1984, subsequently attending Farnborough College until 1985. She started medicine as an undergraduate at the London Hospital Medical School in 1985 and took a year out to do an intercalated degree in Psychology gaining an Upper Second in 1988. She completed her primary medical degree in 1991 gaining MBBS with the Andrew Elliott Prize in Clinical Obstetrics and Gynaecology. After working in several London hospitals, Sarah and Steve chose to go overseas in 1997 to live and work in Sydney. Sarah took registrar positions working predominantly in Neonatology in the New Children’s Hospital and King George Hospitals as well as a 3 month Newborn Emergency Transport Service (NETS) rotation. This, and travelling through outback Australia, was to set the seeds for Sarah and Steve’s later motivation to return to work in Australia. It was also the beginning of Sarah’s interest and commitment to neonatal transport.
Travel featured strongly in Sarah’s lives as she and Steve travelled far and wide – in fact to 35 countries in their 17 years together. Steve proposed to Sarah on a rowing boat in the Chobe River in Botswana in 1997 surrounded by hippos and crocs. She didn’t have much choice but to say ‘yes’! They went on honeymoon to Tanzania - staying at several luxury lodges as well as camping in the Kalahari. They spent 6 months backpacking around South America in the mid 90s, a month in Madagascar and ten years ago after a fantastic year living in Sydney, they spent another few months travelling throughout Australia in an old banger of a car – incurring 9 punctures and 3 broken windscreens en route - going from Sydney to Perth via Queensland, the Northern Territory, Northern WA, Central and South Australia. They also went to Sri Lanka, Panama, Costa Rica, Vietnam and New Zealand, amongst many others.
In 2006, Sarah was appointed a consultant neonatologist at Princess Margaret (PMH) & King Edward Memorial Hospitals (KEMH), Perth, WA and subsequently took over the role as the Director of the Western Australian Neonatal Transport Service (WANTS). Sarah had come to work in Perth first as a senior registrar in 2004. She undertook 18 months of neonatal posts, including 6 months of neonatal transport with WANTS at KEMH and PMH. She also worked as a senior registrar for 6 months on the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit at PMH. She was granted FRACP in 2006.
Sarah enjoyed the challenge of retrieving neonates from anywhere in the state, both by road and with Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), managing her small patients in a calm efficient way which always ensured the transports ran smoothly.
Throughout her life, Sarah was a vibrant, adventurous person, who enjoyed life to the full with her sports, interests and travel reflecting this. She enjoyed music, especially the blues, and often attended blues, folk and world music festivals.
Sarah endured everything that was thrown at her in terms of the most terrible treatment regimes, several operations, and chemotherapy. And still she would bounce back. A few months after one of the most severe of chemo regimes, she was in training for and taking part in a mini triathlon. This was an incredible feat given what her body had had to endure just a few months before. It was her mental fortitude and resolve to keep going. She took part in two triathlons in the end plus the City to Surf. In her last triathlon down in Rockingham December 2007, Sarah struggled and it was clear that the cancer was beginning to win the battle. Nonetheless she completed it and there are some great pictures of her at the finish line!
Sarah was a warm and compassionate person, both to her patients and their families, and also to her colleagues and friends. She was someone who inspired trust and her positive approach to her own challenges frequently humbled those around her. She had a great sense of humour, and a zest for life. She is deeply missed by all who knew her.