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Doctor a Tonic for Country Health

JOHN Flett grew up in Magill and even as an 11-yearold was recognised by those in the neighbourhood for his healing abilities.

It was the Great Depression . Everyone was hungry, doctors were scarce. John had seen a brother die of pneumonia at six and had nursed the rest of his family through diphtheria, boiling their sheets.

On one occasion, he put a boy’s detached nose back on to his face with a peg.

John went to Adelaide Technical High School, particularly standing out for his art subjects, but enrolled at the University of Adelaide at 16 to complete a science degree.

He graduated and enlisted in the RAAF. It was 1940.

He was inducted into the newfangled world of radar, and his expertise resulted in him being fast-tracked into radar installations in Sydney and then to Onslow, on WA’s north coast, as commanding officer.

A posting to Busselton, in the state’s southwest, led to him meeting his future wife, Hilda, and he ended World War II stationed at Rottnest Island , off Fremantle.

While the RAAF wanted him to stay with the rapidly developing radar service, John had decided on a future in medicine and, after marrying Hilda in Busselton in 1946, they moved back to Adelaide. He graduated in 1951, now a family, with Peter having been born in 1950. Because of the financial restraints of study and his family, John had to put aside his plans to become a surgeon and, instead, took up an offer to join a general practice in Kadina, on Yorke Peninsula.

He settled into life as a rural GP, particularly following the birth of a second son, Rodney.

Consulting charges would be adjusted according to the rhythms of life on the land, in drought and good times, and gratitude would come in the form of a leg of lamb or a catch of garfish dropped off “for the doc” on a Saturday night.

If the local vet was not available , John would step in, treating a dog’s broken leg in the shed at home, with son Peter, a future paediatrician, applying the chloroform anaesthetic.

John became deeply involved in his community and initiated many changes.

As Kadina’s public health officer, he was able to introduce a common effluent system after numerous outbreaks of gastroenteritis in the town.

He helped establish Kadina’s first kindergarten, its golf course and clubhouse, and helped with recognition of Northern Yorke Peninsula’s heritage, through Matta House, a National Trust museum with its huge collection of agricultural and mining artefacts. He even played the cornet in the Kadina Wallaroo and Moonta Band, eventually becoming its patron.

John’s active pursuit of his Christian faith saw him develop interdenominational friendships with various ministers . He was among the South Australian rural doctors who were the first to sound the alarm over water piped from the River Murray, with an increase of meningitis deaths in children. He collected samples, leading to research that identified amoebic meningitis, with the amoeba entering the brain through the nose from splashed water.

Within months, water supply pipelines and swimming pools were compulsorily chlorinated .

John’s contribution to help save children from meningitis must have brought some comfort after the death of his younger son, Rodney, at 16, from testicular cancer and after a long battle with severe epilepsy .

It also renewed his interest in art and, into his nineties, John would stage an annual fundraising exhibition of his paintings.

These exhibitions succeeded in raising around $100,000 for children’s cancer charities.

He worked with St John Ambulance, first as the corps surgeon for Yorke Peninsula from 1952.

He became more involved and persuaded the local council to provide land to establish an ambulance station and lecture room.

His long service was recognised with his appointment as a commander (CStJ) in 1992. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2005 for his work establishing and helping to run a new regional hospital, based in Wallaroo .

John retired from full-time work as a GP at 63, but continued to work part-time , and dedicate more of his time to his community.

John is survived by son Peter, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren .

Extracted from Adelaide Advertiser Obituaries
6th June 2020

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