MAF flights enable Wamut Physio staff to visit patients in their homelands to deliver a holistic model of care.
At 8:45 a.m. a GA8 Airvan roars to life in its red gravel parking bay at Gove Airport. Its destination: a scattering of remote indigenous homelands across East Arnhem Land, some unreachable by road in the wet season, and a 12-hour drive for a full circuit of each, even in good conditions.
Onboard is Shaun Bell, a physiotherapist with Wamut Physio, carrying little more than a backpack and a deep understanding of how movement can change lives. Without aviation, physical and geographic mobility would be severely limited for many of Shaun’s patients.
“Without MAF, they’re stuck, basically,” Shaun says matter-of-factly at one of the short gravel airstrips still sodden from a burst of monsoon rain. “No other company can fly into this airstrip that I know of.”
MAF flights are a lifeline that facilitate on-country care and help to bridge the healthcare and social service gaps created by the isolation of distance, offering a vital connection between patients and the care they need to thrive.
For Yolŋu people in homelands dotted across East Arnhem Land, staying on country is more than a preference – it’s a necessity for total wellbeing.
Wamut Physio Practice Manager Tebany Neuhoff said, “With relocation to town they sacrifice connection with friends and family and their land, and they can face other challenges from a town lifestyle.
Without MAF, they’re stuck, basically.
“Getting treatment in their homelands allows our patients to live a more traditional life, and treatment and rehabilitation can help them to get back to hunting and gathering with their families.”
Treatment is as varied as the terrain itself, as physiotherapists deal with conditions ranging from strokes, Parkinson’s disease and injuries to cerebral palsy and delayed development in children.
Shaun said, “When you work out bush, especially as a physio, you become a specialist in all sorts of conditions. The most common sort of ones that I'm seeing are cerebral palsy patients and strokes.”
The rugged landscape, while beautiful, poses daily challenges for those with limited mobility. Shaun and the Wamut Physio team meet clients where they are – at home, on verandahs, out in the open under trees – delivering sessions tailored to real-world goals.
On a recent visit, Shaun worked with Marko Wanambi, a young patient whose goal is to join the local ranger program.
“What we did today was based on his need to lift a tyre off the ground,” Shaun said. “So, we’re doing curls with a bag that’s about 15 to 20 kilos. It’s all about conditioning, and back to getting to what he wants to do with life.”
Such care wouldn’t be possible without the regular MAF flights.
Charl Neuhoff, Founder and Lead Physiotherapist of Wamut, said, “Flying allows us to see our patients once a week instead of once a month, and that’s majorly significant for many of them, and that’s where flying with MAF can make a huge difference.”
Before starting to fly with MAF, Charl would spend entire days driving out to his patients.
“I was driving out to the homelands, sometimes 600 kilometres a day, so my time on the ground wasn’t flexible. And sometimes I’d get stuck behind a flooded river and have to camp overnight, or get stuck in a flooded swamp area.”
In these communities, hope and healing aren’t just about physical strength – they’re about restoring independence, purpose, and connection. Thanks to the collaboration between Wamut Physio Services and MAF, more people can do just that: on their land, with their families, under wide open skies.
