The Angel Of Forgotten Towns

Sara Evans made a mercy dash to provide hope for Australia's most needy.

- Leigh Reinhold

In the witheringly dry outback of far west NSW, she’s known as the Angel on Wheels. Arriving amid a cloud of red dust at the Packsaddle Roadhouse, Sara Evans rode shotgun into town in a B-double truck filled with donations for the drought-ravaged farmers of Broken Hill, Tibooburra, Menindee and beyond.

Hauling two trailers brimming with everything from cattle feed to toys and palettes of water, the 36-year-old mother-of-two from the NSW Central Coast made the two-day trek to provide some hope to the “forgotten towns” affected by what locals are calling the worst drought in living memory.

“It was an eye-opener – it’s hard to imagine how dry it is out there,” says Sara of the dusty 2600km round trip she made late last year. “There are dead kangaroos and emus everywhere.

“But it was awesome to see the looks on people’s faces when they saw what we had for them and realised people from as far away as the coast cared. It was so touching, and there were plenty of tears shed.”

And no one understands better than Sara what it’s like to stare tragedy in face. Her personal horrific experiences of the past are what eventually led her to Packsaddle, with a population of just 200.