One of the many heroes of the East Timor struggle , American Dr Daniel Murphy , has died at the age of 75. Darwin resident and longtime supporter of the Timorese , Robert Wesley-Smith , knew the man known as "Doctor Dan " for decades and called on him at his busy clinic in February during a trip to that country , returning with many interesting photos and stories .
Both , is seems , shared common interests, one being opposition to the Viet Nam War . It has been reported that a judge gave Murphy an alternative to being drafted into military service, so he chose to go to California and establish a clinic for the United Farm Workers. He would later serve in the former Portuguese African colony of Mozambique.
Returning to Cedar Falls, Iowa, from Mozambique with his family because of the dangerous war going on there , he set up a family medicine practice and Murphy's Rainbow Clinic , a methadone treatment centre .
Other countries in which he served were Nicaragua , India and Laos .
Returning to Cedar Falls, Iowa, from Mozambique with his family because of the dangerous war going on there , he set up a family medicine practice and Murphy's Rainbow Clinic , a methadone treatment centre .
Other countries in which he served were Nicaragua , India and Laos .
During the recent and last meeting of the two friends in Dili , Dr Dan recalled they had known each other since l999. On that first occasion Wesley-Smith had called on the doctor as he was suffering from a virus carried by mosquitoes. The doctor had jokingly said this was one of the (many) viruses he would not have to worry about from then on . In return for the medical treatment , Wesley-Smith, an agronomist and handyman , had traced and repaired a water pipe which had been flooding the compound .
According to Dr Murphy's sisters, he returned to East Timor on one of the first Australian landing craft to reach the island after the Indonesian military left .
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The clinic had first been established by the Carmelites in the Motael Church . He moved into an old medical centre at Bairo Pite, Neighbourhood of the Pigs , Dili, which expanded into a crammed complex with many volunteers .
Each time Wesley-Smith was in the country helping the people in various ways , he called on Doctor Dan , the clinic handling 200 to 300 people each day .
When 10 school students from Bega, New South Wales , the area recently ravaged by bushfires, there being a Timor-Leste support group in that region , visited the clinic with Wesley-Smith , they crammed into the reception room and the doctor gave them an inspiring talk about Timor and its needs.
In the recent get together , Wesley-Smith said their discussion almost amounted to a "vale ". The doctor had spoken of the need for him to prepare for retirement or a changeover . It was , Wesley-Smith wrote, perhaps a sign of realising his mortality.
Dr Murphy and four comrades stayed at Wesley-Smith's rural Darwin residence during a stopover after visiting Brazil to see how that country had handled HIV issues. The doctor had spoken at a Darwin Hospital seminar .
The doctor had worked so hard it was probably inevitable that he died from a heart attack . He would not leave work until all patients had been seen , and often comforted them with words in Tetum , Wesley-Smith added.
Throughout he had to cope with inadequate and erratic funding , and fundraiser fatigue . In an attempt to keep fit, he used to run .
It was disappointing , said Wesley-Smith, that the Australian media had been advised of Dr Dan's death , but had not responded . " I hope the world properly recognises this remarkable man and his decades of dedicated service to humanity ". The Cedar Falls Courier newspaper carried news of his death, a tribute saying he had made the world a better place. `
The Courier report said the operation of the clinic was being affected by some of the staff staying away because of the fear of coronavirus , there being only six reported cases in the country , and not having been paid . Dr Murphy would be cremated and some of the ashes sent to his family in the United States.
The Courier report said the operation of the clinic was being affected by some of the staff staying away because of the fear of coronavirus , there being only six reported cases in the country , and not having been paid . Dr Murphy would be cremated and some of the ashes sent to his family in the United States.
The newspaper contained a tribute from Jose Ramos Horta, the former East Timor president and Nobel peace laureate.
Wesley-Smith received word from America that a son of the doctor is going to write an extensive article about his father . Wes sent an email to the Lord Mayor of Darwin , Kon Vatskalis , a former Northern Territory Health Minister, alerting him to Doctor Murphy's demise in the hope he would issue a statement honouring the man and his work .
