Dean West

Disaster Relief Australia | October 2019

“As everyone is soon to find out, from my BBC doco, I had a hard time after leaving the army, and becoming a B Grade celebrity. I have a lot of survival skills, and using this to help other people balances my inner demons. I’ve been very fortunate with DRA to deploy overseas and domestically. At the moment, I am sitting in Palu, with Rich and Dion, and we’ve just been out to check some sites that we will be damage assessing tomorrow with our UAVs. The site we were standing on was impacted by a phenomenon known as liquefaction, where the earth is churned so much that it turns into a quicksand whirlpool. It’s now thought to be the gravesite of thousands of people. I feel extremely grateful to have the opportunity to be here and help the people of Indonesia and I feel incredible sorrow for their loss. But I know the team are here to do something for the Indonesian government that is needed and will help them move forward. Tonight when I go to sleep, I know that balance in the fight with my demons is topped up. Thanks to DRA. Cheers, see ya when I get back.”