WEDNESDAY, 28 JANUARY, 2026
Big day for Scouts
The incoming Chief Commissioner Scouts Victoria Daniella Taglieri with some scouts outside the Williamstown Town Hall. (Damjan Janevski) 528891_01
Hundreds of Scout leaders and volunteers from across the state will converge on Williamstown this weekend to invest Scouts Victoria’s new Chief Commissioner. Current Deputy Chief Commissioner Daniella Taglieri will assume Scouts Victoria’s top job at a ceremony at Williamstown Town Hall on 31 January. Youth members from the 1st Mt Evelyn Scout Group will officially invest Ms Taglieri into her new role which she will hold for the next six years. The ceremony will form part of Scouts Victoria’s annual Leader of Adults conference which is being held in Williamstown for the first time. More than 500 people are expected at the one day gathering of adult volunteers, including representatives from local groups such as 4th Williamstown Sea Scouts, 3rd Williamstown Scouts and 1st Altona Scouts and those from as far afield as Horsham, Wodonga and Maffra, Key topics for 2026 such funding grants, as the results of the Resilient Youth Survey and upcoming major events like the National Australia Jamboree Victoria, will be among the issues discussed.
Mum’s fight to live By Cade Lucas Fundraisers and appeals are almost always for very worthy causes, but rarely are they matters of life and death. Unfortunately for Footscray single mother Kirsty Wesner, the GoFundMe page she has launched is one of the exceptions. “I absolutely will die,” Ms Wesner said bluntly of what will happen if she can’t raise the $41,600 needed to travel to the Philippines to have life-saving surgery next month. Ms Wesner, a 41 year-old mother of three, needs to have a physiologic duodenojejunostomy with antroplasty,
or the Alvear procedure as it’s more commonly known, a specialised surgical technique developed and performed by Filipino-American surgeon Dr Domingo Alvear. The procedure is one of the few known treatments for Superior Mesenteric Artery Compression Syndrome (SMACS), a rare digestive disorder that Ms Wesner has suffered from since birth and which is slowly killing her. SMACS involves the duodenum – the first part of the small intestine – being squeezed by two arteries, the SMA and the aorta. “The two arteries press the duodenum really tightly, which limits anything being
able to pass through, so if I eat anything, quite often it won’t be able to pass through, staying in my stomach for hours or days,” Ms Wesner explained. With symptoms such as vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain and weight loss, SMACS was always difficult for Ms Wesner to manage, but since a downturn in 2023, she’s been unable to work, is largely bedridden and increasingly at risk of death. “I’ve lost over 35 per cent of my bodyweight, going from over 60kg to 40kg,”she said of the toll the last three years had taken on her. “I struggle to maintain electrolytes and have chronically low potassium leading to
3 NEW DENTURES ARE GST FREE 3 QUALITY DENTURE CARE 3 HEALTH FUND REBATES 3 PROMPT APPOINTMENTS
arrhythmias which can be fatal.” To make matters worse, Ms Wesner also suffers from Ehlers Danlos, a genetic condition that causes organs, ligaments and connective tissue to stretch, prolapse and drop. “It kind of just pulls everything down,” she said of the condition which puts even further strain on her abdomen. Having a combination of rare disorders has made accessing viable treatment in Australia even rarer, with Ms Wesner claiming local doctors lack knowledge about her ailments.
Continued page 12
NO COS
T
INITIAL CONSUL TAT AND AD ION VICE
• New Full and Partial Dentures • Implant Retained Over Dentures • Metal Framed Dentures • Sports Mouthguards • Repairs • Relines • HICAPS Available • Veteran Affairs • Victorian Denture Scheme Accepted
www.knddentureclinic.com.au
Kathy Danoucaras, Nick Danoucaras and Sam Robertson
like us on Facebook KND Denture Clinic
KND Denture Clinic, 192 Main Road East, St Albans 9364 3677 Also at: Suite 8, 242 Caroline Springs Boulevard, Caroline Springs. 8361 9722
Australian Dental Prosthetists Association (Victoria)
12590552-ET16-23