The pub where mental health is just another conversation
Australian mental health crisis: what actually works when a mate is struggling. Stuart O’Neill survived a suicide attempt in Taiwan and rebuilt his life by opening a coffee shop, then Australia’s first mental health pub, where ordinary conversations save lives. ⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses suicide, grief, which some listeners may find distressing. If […]
Jeff Parker: From Weightlifter to Blind Advocate — 36 Years of Showing Up
SUMMARY At 25, Jeff Parker was a weightlifter in country New South Wales. A week later, he was paralysed from the waist down by a tumour in his spinal cord no doctor had seen coming. In this episode of Golden Threads, host Daniel Dougherty sits down with Jeff — now 61, blind, an NDIS advocate, […]
“Give People a Chance and Watch Them Shine” | Julie Fisher | Golden Threads | Kintsugi Heroes
Two years before Julie Fisher fell pregnant with her third child, the universe set her up. She’d just made a friend whose daughter Amy had Down syndrome. Julie watched the playground, asked the questions, and quietly decided that if it ever happened to her family, she would want to know. Two years later, an ultrasound […]
Julie Fisher: A Mother’s Advocacy, Down Syndrome, and the Glue That Holds a Family Together
Two years before Julie Fisher fell pregnant with her third child, the universe set her up. She’d just become friends with a woman named Tina, whose daughter Amy had Down syndrome. Julie had never met anyone with Down syndrome before. She watched Amy in the playground. She asked questions. And one of the answers — […]
Leanne Watson: Three Acts, a Diagnosis, and a Life Built on Community
Leanne Watson sees her life in three acts — and the third one started the day a freshly minted GP finally took her seriously. For nearly a decade, doctors fobbed her off. Lose weight. Build glutes. You’ve had three kids. One specialist had her parade in her bra and undies and said she “looked fine.” […]
31 Years of Support: Why Jeff Parker Says ‘You Don’t Have to Do It Alone’
SUMMARY At 25, Jeff Parker was a weightlifter in country New South Wales. A week later, he was paralysed from the waist down by a tumour in his spinal cord no doctor had seen coming. In this episode of Golden Threads, host Daniel Dougherty sits down with Jeff — now 61, blind, an NDIS advocate, […]
Disability and Mental Health: How Daniel Searle Rebuilt His Life After Losing His Sight | Golden …
Daniel grew up sighted on an Australian farm, playing cricket and tennis, until his vision deteriorated over a few months at 16. Leber’s optic neuropathy-a genetic condition affecting the optic nerve-meant no cure and no driving license. The initial years were marked by denial and shame; he rejected mobility aids and pushed himself to impossible […]
A Life in Three Acts with Muscular Dystrophy | Leanne Watson | Golden Threads | Kintsugi Heroes
In this moving episode of Golden Threads: Stories of Disability and Resilience, host Daniel Dougherty shares an intimate conversation with Leanne Watson, a remarkable woman living with limb girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD). Leanne opens up about her life journey, from a privileged upbringing in Melbourne to the gradual physical challenges posed by her diagnosis. This […]
Why I spent years refusing the one thing I needed most
Daniel lost his sight at 16 to a genetic condition he couldn’t control. But his story isn’t about overcoming disability. It’s about learning to see differently, finding strength in asking for help, and building a life of purpose beyond what he thought he’d lost. ⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses mental health & wellbeing, which […]
The Signs We Missed: A Mother’s Fight to Save Our Boys
⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses grief & loss and suicide & self-harm prevention, which some listeners may find distressing. Losing a child to suicide is a grief that never truly heals. Mia Bannister shares her journey of turning pain into purpose. Mia Bannister lost her son Ollie in 2024 to suicide after a long […]