Ballarat's OAM Mary Nolan is fighting for change

As a radiographer at St John of God Hospital, Mary Nolan thought she knew her way around the health system.But she found out she actually had no idea after her son Chris suffered a multi-organ collapse in Vietnam in 1996, leading to a severe acquired brain injury. "I'd moved into a different world with no road map," Mrs Nolan said. So she set out to become the voice of young people with ABI who could no longer speak.“Nowhere in the system caters for younger people with ABI. We have an extraordinary situation where health, age care and rehab are all doing their own thing.“We’re just saying that this group is not being well-addressed.”Fourteen years after Chris’ accident, Mrs Nolan is a passionate advocate, writer, public speaker and, from today, a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Australia Day Awards.“I felt very honoured but overwhelmed. This award is not just for me but for all the people who’ve been in the fight before me and after me.”Mrs Nolan two other roles also played a part in her selection: she was the first Australian elected to the Christian Life Community’s World Executive Council and is the host of the Meredith Music Festival.“My faith is a questioning faith, not just a Sunday faith. But I know there’s something more in all of this. I see the signs everyday.”Mrs Nolan and her “hidden hero”, husband Jack, have also just celebrated 20 years of hosting the Meredith Music Festival on their farm after it was first conceived by Chris and a few mates back in 1990.“The original vision was really bringing the land and the people who enjoyed that genre of music together ... The essence of that vision is still there.”Chris, who was captain of St Patrick’s College in 1985, attends each festival and gets up on stage to send out a “long blink” to the audience. “He has such a connection with the crowd. I think it gives the punters a sense of their own vulnerability. I hope it makes them think they would live their life differently if they didn’t know how long they had to live.”Mrs Nolan spends most of her time in Melbourne fighting for better accommodation and services for young people with ABIs, while Jack runs the family farm.Sadly, their only other child, a daughter Mary-Louise, died in a car accident in 1988.“She was such a vibrant person too.”In 2001, Mrs Nolan co-founded Inability Possibility which provides information and support to ABI patients and their families and friends.She is also a member of the Victorian Young People in Nursing Homes Consortium, speaks at state and national summits and is the founder of the group, What Does Chris Want, in 2004. “It’s been an extraordinary journey with Chris. And they are on the cusp of such radical changes in the study of the brain and you can see that in Chris. He’s an amazing fellow.”Chris has won the footy tipping at his nursing home two years in a row by blinking his selections and is now eating lunch after his parents were told he would never eat solid food again.“He’s just got some movement in one thumb too. He’s so proud of himself. It was a marathon just getting that moving.”Mrs Nolan said she had only told Jack and Chris about her award before today after receiving notification three weeks ago. “When you asked me how I felt about this award, it’s been quite moving looking back at the journey.”