Debbie Manson, a brave survivor of institutional abuse, was aged just 16 when she was wrongfully admitted to an adult locked ward, Olser House, Wolston Park Mental Hospital, Wacol. Her experiences have left her with lifelong trauma and debilitating physical and psychological illness. Despite her own disabilities, Debbie has advocated for justice for all survivors of Wolston Park, including my late brother Randall Carrington.

Debbie’s advocacy does not stop there. Thousands of deceased patients were buried in unmarked graves in one of Wolston Park’s three cemeteries over 150 years. The unmarked graves represent the silent suffering of individuals who were harmed by asylum’s culture of abuse. The Nazis used numbers to dehumanise interned Jews before slaughtering them, and similarly, Wolston Park used numbers to record the patients who died under its care. Determined to unearth the respect these deceased patients deserve, Debbie has identified the names of 1,537 people who died at Wolston Park Hospital between 1865 and 1895. Of these, 1,489 have no recorded burial locations, and 200 were children.

She has painstakingly cared for the unmarked graves, cleaning every headstone in an effort to one day match each to a person, to give them the respect Wolston Park did not. Please support her fundraising campaign to continue this vital work.

Click this link to donate.