north east regional extra | November 20 - 26, 2019
nemedia.com.au
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November 20 - 26, 2019
Castle on the hill By BELINDA HARRISON A YOUNG boy, set free from his schooling week, rides through town to visit his parents. His legs pump but the hill is too steep, he has to push his bike the rest of the way. At the top he pauses briefly to catch his breath before setting off again. Past the ha-ha wall, beneath the trees, into the asylum he goes. It’s not a scary place, the residents are not intimidating; the female patients fuss and fawn over him, they make him feel welcome and soon his mother - the ward assistant - arrives. For a time, that was Frank Prem’s life, it was normal. He spent his weekends riding ‘up top’ to Mayday Hills Hospital in Beechworth - where his mother worked on the women’s ward and his father in the main kitchen. He was not afraid or even particularly fascinated by the patients - they just became commonplace, familiar, a part of his life. “They came down into the town from up top,” Frank said. “Football was very big in Beechworth and there would always be one or two who came to the local matches, either accompanied by nurses or attending on their own.” Frank’s family arrived at the Bonegilla Migrant Camp from Croatia, via Germany. Frank’s grandfather had a relative in Beechworth and the family stayed with him while Frank’s parents sought work, his father finding a job milling in the bush around Beechworth and later becoming a kitchenhand at Mayday Hills.
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◆ NURSING LIFE: Frank Prem has worked in psychiatric facilities for over 45 years, his work inspiring his poetry. PHOTO: Leah Anderson-Byrne
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