I learned today that George Dobson passed away after an accident in India.

I knew George when he was the convenor of the CSIRO Double Helix Science Club‘s Rockhampton Chapter. He organised a number of events, including a wonderful bush trek and a talk I gave at the Rockhampton Airport terminal about human travel to Mars. As a high school student I had been agitating a number of years for a chapter to be set up in the local area and was delighted when George took up the role.

George was trekking in India when he fell down a mountainside, sustaining injuries that left him a quadriplegic. Hospitalised in India, while his family in Australia struggled to raise funds for his treatment and to bring him home, he eventually succumbed to complications.

You can read more about George Dobson on the Bring George Back website. And please learn from this tragedy. If you are travelling overseas, buy medical insurance because the Australian government can’t bail you out.