Vale: Dave Whitfield, Australia (27.02.2024)
Dave Whitfield, 2 RAR medic during the East Timor intervention and subject of the Australian Defence Force Tafenoquine Trials finally lost his battle against neuropsychiatric quinism
Image: Courier Mail article by Adella Beaini 29.02.2024
Dave and Alison appeared on Q&A in 2023. Via ABC News Sydney & MSN. Army veteran's wife tells Q+A her husband tried to take his life more than 30 times, as she calls for more funding from government. Excerpt:
On Q+A, Ms Whitfield asked what the government was going to do about that and invited Veterans' Affairs Minister Matt Keogh to visit her home so he could see what it was like for a former serviceman living with past traumas.
"I'm actually offering you an invitation, Mr Keogh, to be a guest in our home and experience firsthand the crisis resulting in your government's neglect of Australian veterans and their families by closing the Veterans Centre [of] Australia," she said.
"That centre meant a lot to a lot of veterans and saved a lot of veterans' lives, including Dave's.
"He wouldn't be sitting here now if it wasn't for that centre.
"To you, he might be Joe Blow, but to me he is my husband who signed up and served for this country and he deserves better and so do a lot of other veterans."
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The Department of Veterans’ Affairs did not issue an official apology however they expressed their condolences via News Corp. The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide never commented.
I’ll leave the last word to Andrew Marriott…
To the Lost
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UPDATES
8.06.2024: Reviewed/Updated: Minor amendments. References updated
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REFERENCES
ABC News (24.04.2023) Army veteran's wife tells Q+A her husband tried to take his life more than 30 times, as she calls for more funding from government [https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/army-veterans-wife-tells-q-a-her-husband-tried-to-take-his-life-more-than-30-times-as-she-calls-for-more-funding-from-government/ar-AA18R70h] MSN. Accessed 29.02.2024
Beaini, A (29.02.2024) His cries for help were just ignored [https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/veteran-dave-whitfield-tragically-takes-his-own-life-after-pleading-for-help/news-story/7ac06cb05298763495542f556840b54e] Courier Mail. Article read 29.02.2024
Department of Veterans’ Affairs (2024) Media [https://www.dva.gov.au/about/media] Accessed 29.02.2024
Marriot, A.G. (2022) If you wake at Midnight. The Lariam wonder drug scandal. Austin Macauley. London, UK
Nevin, R (2019) Neuropsychiatric Quinism: Chronic Encephalopathy Caused by Poisoning by Mefloquine and Related Quinoline Drugs [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-05384-0_20] Veteran Psychiatry in the US. Page accessed 29.02.2024
Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide (2024) News and Media [https://defenceveteransuicide.royalcommission.gov.au/news-and-media] Accessed 29.02.2024