60 Minutes Australia

Heroes of Ravenshoe/After the Blast/Switched at Birth (2015x17)

: 21, 2015

Heroes of Ravenshoe They say the true test of your character is what you do when no one is watching; how you respond in times of crisis. Ten days ago the people of Ravenshoe in Queensland showed they’re made of pretty extraordinary stuff. Devastation struck their town when an out-of-control ute hit a gas bottle, triggering an almighty explosion inside the Serves You Right café. A fireball engulfed the café, and people and debris were sent flying out the door. The first reaction of the locals was to put themselves in harm’s way. Some braved the flames and the gas to pull survivors from the wreckage, while others showed little regard for their own safety to free the unconscious driver. All the while, a second gas bottle with half a tonne of liquid gas threatened to go off. This is the story of a very special town, where the locals have looked each other in the eye and said, “You can count on me, mate.” Reporter: Allison Langdon Producer: Garry McNab After the Blast Australian soldiers Lieutenant Garth Callender and Trooper Matt Millhouse are as tough and courageous as each other. A roadside bomb exploded next to their armoured vehicle in Baghdad 11 years ago. While Garth suffered terrible injuries from the blast, he is fully recovered, a husband and father of three girls. For Matt the story is vastly different. Despite emerging from the blast without so much as a scratch, today he is an old man in a young man’s body. Matt’s brain is dying – he is the shadow of the soldier, husband and father he was just a few years ago. As Ross Coulthart investigates, there is a silent killer facing our soldiers and Matt is just the first of many who are going to suffer. Reporter: Ross Coulthart Producer: Steven Burling Switched at Birth It is the impossible choice that no mother should ever have to face: Surrender the child you have lovingly raised for the last four years, to take back the child you originally gave birth to. It’s an unimaginable d