Penny Timms

2 months ago | abc.net.au | Leisa Scott |Penny Timms

One sunny spring day, Col Clausen came home to find his wife Sheree slumped on the bathroom floor. One cold winter night, Laura Aisbett discovered her husband Stuart lifeless in the shed. Both tried CPR but could not revive their partners. Both were lost in grief. "I had to learn to accept that grief is now part of me," Col tells Australian Story. "Grief, quite honestly, lives inside me."But he had three teenage sons to care for.

Oct 30, 2024 | abc.net.au | Penny Timms

Tiffany May, 59, was hiking alone in the Adelaide Hills last year when she fell and lost consciousness. When she came to, she was in intense pain and suspected she'd broken her hip. Hospital scans revealed that, rather than a broken hip, she'd broken her femur close to the joint with her pelvis. "My whole left femur is titanium … I've got two screws down the bottom by my knee and another two screws up at the top," Ms May said.

Jul 3, 2024 | abc.net.au | Penny Timms

Australia's largest not-for-profit health and aged care provider plans to end its contract with the private health insurer nib, after negotiations for a renewal broke down.  St Vincent's operates 10 private hospitals across New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland and said it had not taken the decision lightly.  "This is the first time in our 167-year history that St Vincent's has given notice to a private health fund that we intend to end our agreement," CEO Chris Blake said.

Jun 30, 2024 | abc.net.au | Penny Timms

From today, new laws come into effect meaning the only place to buy a vape is from a pharmacy, and only if you have a prescription. It's part of new legislation designed to disrupt the flow of unregulated and potent vapes. Vape users say the new laws will only be effective if there's better enforcement.

May 22, 2024 | abc.net.au | Penny Timms |Leonie Thorne

In short: A new family of COVID-causing subvariants sweeping through the US has arrived in Australia. Nicknamed FLiRT, it derives from JN.1 and is even more transmissible but less severe than the early variants we saw in 2020 and 2021. What's next? Scientists are still working out why the virus is behaving like this. As the days draw darker and the weather gets colder, a new family of COVID-causing subvariants has arrived just in time for Australia's sniffles season.