Dr Chester Wilson and his wife Loie are retiring from Charleville, Qld, leaving the town missing much more than a doctor.
Story By Annabelle Brayley
“Oh my God! Have you seen the new doc? He looks like a truckie/navvy/lumberjack.” It was May 1978 and opinions sizzled around the town of Charleville, poured down phone lines and eventually spilled on to the airwaves via the School of the Air. Chester Wilson had arrived in town.
Standing at 198 centimetres in his bare feet, Chester takes up a lot of space. Getting around in elastic-sided Blundstones, stubbies and a shearer’s singlet, he doesn’t look like your stereotypical doctor. The locals grew to love it. They’d claim him like a tourist attraction: “See that big fella up there with the big beard and the banjo? He’s our doctor!”
This story excerpt is from Issue #92
Outback Magazine: Dec/Jan 2014
