Uncle Trevor Draper is an Elder of the Kamilaroi People and a Director of the North Coast Aboriginal Corporation for Community Health.

As a Court Support Officer with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service, he has made a career of helping, advising and guiding mob in some of their most vulnerable times.

Uncle Trevor enthusiastically made the choice to get vaccinated against COVID-19 for four reasons: his health, family, family, and family.

“I’m a 72-year-old Murri man with type-2 diabetes and I also have a minor heart problem, and I just want to live a bit longer,” Uncle Trevor said.

“I wouldn’t like to die from COVID, that’s why got the shots.

“That was one reason, another reason is I’m a family man. I’ve been married to my wife now for 52 years.

“We have three kids and seven grandkids, and I wouldn’t like to take it home and give it to them.

“And the other reason is because I’m a court support officer with the Aboriginal Legal Service.

“I deal with our clients every day, our own mob.

“It just makes me feel a lot better, knowing I can’t give them the disease.

“The last reason is, I have family living in Canada.

“I believe that if you haven’t got that double shot well then, you’re not going to Canada and that’s no good for me.”

As a family-orientated person, Trevor also spreads the message of protecting mum or nan to his clients at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service.

“I tell them that it wouldn’t be nice if you got it and you took it home and gave it to your mother or father,” he said.

“I said, being old and being Indigenous they’ll get it and won’t come out of hospital.

“They’ll die in there and you wouldn’t want that over your head.

“So I told them to go and do the right thing, go and do it, get it done!

“All my brothers and sisters, all my family, they’ve all had their shots.

“It’s the right thing to do.”

Not only is it the right thing to do, but for Uncle Trevor, the process of getting vaccinated was almost pain free.

“I was fine, I did have a bit of soreness in the joints and a slight headache, so I decided to take the day off work.

“That was my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

“Day after that I was fine.

“The second shot was great; I didn’t even know I had it.

“I was more excited about getting it than anything else.

“I didn’t even feel the needle going in, it was great.”

If you would like more information contact North Coast Aboriginal Corporation for Community Health.