The Hero of Broke: Operational Excellence and Generosity with Mick McCardle

Beyond the Deluge: Flood Resilience Stories from the Hunter Valley

Mick is a man who was acknowledged by the village as being an absolute hero when it came to supporting the community. His operational role was essential and his heart was huge when it came to supporting the local people.

Born in 1963 he was in the Army from 1981 to 2013. In 2016 he moved with his wife to Broke where he owns a small business.

He was the Singleton Citizen of the year for 2023 and is the president of the Broke Residents Community Association.

Mick’s story is about his personal experience of the flood as well as sharing the story of being in charge of the operations centre at the Broke Community Hall during the 2022 catastrophic flood.

“Because of my 30-odd years in the military, mainly overseas in operations, I came into the job to head up the operations centre because I knew what was involved and that when I was down there at the hall, I had to portray, okay, this is what we've got to do and get it done.”

Like many others in the area his animals are an important part of his life.

“We discussed it when they came and saw us about evacuating my wife, Min, but we couldn't go because of the animals; we've got three dogs, two cats, and chickens. I don't think our biggest dog, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, would have been happy getting in a tinny to cross a raging river.”

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We hope that you enjoyed this episode of Beyond the Deluge and Kintsugi Heroes.

Please take care: if you have been triggered by listening to this episode we recommend you get in contact with someone who can help keep you safe and give you the support you need. This may be Lifeline, AA, a friend, a counsellor, or some other support group.

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We hope you continue enjoying the heroes stories!

Warmly,

The Kintsugi Heroes team

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Theme Song: "Broken" by Colin Lillie

This episode of Kintsugi Heroes was made possible in partnership with Singleton Neighbourhood Center with grant funding from the Hunter New England and Centre Primary Health Network.