Pregnant firefighter defends decision to continue battling NSW blazes
A NSW firefighter has defended her decision to continue battling wildfires that have swept across the state while 13 weeks pregnant.
23-year-old Katherine Robinson-Williams said she plans to keep working to help contain the bushfires until she is physically unable.
“Yes I am pregnant. Yes I am going to the fires. And yes I’ll be alright. No I won’t just stay behind,” she wrote on an Instagram post.
“I’ll always make the way.
“As long as I am physically able to help I’ll always work my best as I’m a firefighter, just like all the rest!!”
She told the BBC she had posted the picture after several friends expressed their concern over her coming out on the field.
“I wanted to tell them I’m okay and that I’m not just going to stop,” she said. “I’ll stop when my body tells me to stop.”
She said her doctor had given her the all-clear “as long as I wear the right equipment”.
Robinson-Williams, who has served as a volunteer firefighter for 10 years, comes from a family of firefighters in the Hunter Valley.
She said her mother was pregnant with her while battling blazes in 1995.
“I grew up being a firefighter. My grandmother when I was really little [gave me] very, very small yellow, toddler-sized firefighter clothing for me to run around in,” she told 10 daily.
“My whole family are firies. My in-laws are firies, my husband is a firefighter and my grandmother is a firefighter.
“I’ve loved it and I’ve never stopped and I don’t think I ever will.”