So many ways to say thank you

Retired schoolteacher and surgical patient, Elsy Barron, says there are staff at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) and The Surgical, Treatment and Rehabilitation Service (STARS) that she'll never forget – whose expertise saved her life and whose kindness and care meant the world. 

Now she's saying a 'thank you' that will reverberate for decades for come. 

Elsy Barron being treated at the RBWH.

In late 2025, Elsy was flown from Hervey Bay to RBWH for emergency surgery on a tumour in her spinal cord. It came just five months after she lost her beloved husband, Colin, to colorectal, liver and lung cancer. 

During her stay in STARS, Elsy began thinking about the future — not just her own, but the future of the hospital that was caring for her.

"While I was in STARS, I was reading about the work of the RBWH Foundation, and I thought someone needs to help them," Elsy said.  

"People who can afford to, and have the means to, need to help get the research done - and someone in the future will benefit from it." 

Knowing her family was well provided for, Elsy made the decision to leave a gift in her Will in Colin's memory — a way of ensuring the research and care that supported her would be there for others, too. 

"It makes me happy to know the work and research the hospital does will still go on, because without the means of support, they can't continue," she said.  

Michela Everett and Elsy Barron at the RBWH.