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Speaker 1: So, as I mentioned a little while ago, there has

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Speaker 1: been a go fund Me page set up for a

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Speaker 1: beautiful Northern Territory family. Now the lives of the beloved,

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Speaker 1: humble and community spirited family changed forever. On Australia Day,

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Speaker 1: dedicated fishing enthusiast Charles, Mary Lou and two of their

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Speaker 1: three sons headed east from rural Darwin bound for a

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Speaker 1: day's fishing at Shady Camp. Their honest sweeping bend is

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Speaker 1: what the go fund me page sees, and in a

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Speaker 1: monsooner downpour, an oncoming car hit them head on. Now,

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Speaker 1: when that car came to rest, Willard, aged eleven, and

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Speaker 1: his elder brother Stirling sixteen, both unaware of their serious injuries,

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Speaker 1: they fought to help their parents and make the vehicle safe.

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Speaker 1: The remoteness of their location delayed help. And critically injured

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Speaker 1: Mary Lou and Charles were eventually freed by emergency services

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Speaker 1: and taken to Royal Darwin Hospital. It's there that they

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Speaker 1: fought for their life in ICU before they were stable

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Speaker 1: enough to be flown to Perth for more specialist care.

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Speaker 1: Now Charles had suffered multiple broken bones, including spinal injuries.

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Speaker 2: In his neck and back.

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Speaker 1: Mary Lou was in a coma, her major head trauma

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Speaker 1: resulting in severe brain injury. She underwent two emergency life

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Speaker 1: saving surgeries in those first twenty four hours. Now joining

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Speaker 1: me on the line to tell us more about this beautiful,

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Speaker 1: beautiful family is well. I have got CareFlight Chief Aircrew Officer,

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Speaker 1: Kurt Pride. Good morning to you, Kurt.

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Speaker 3: Good to be with you, Katie.

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Speaker 2: Kurt, thanks so much for your time. Mate. Firstly, tell

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Speaker 2: me how do you know this incredible family.

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Speaker 3: I've been lucky enough to work with Chuck for nearly

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Speaker 3: ten years in the top end. So firstly, when I

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Speaker 3: moved to Katherine nearly ten years ago to take up

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Speaker 3: a position as an acrew officer with the ADA BLAF

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Speaker 3: rescue helicopter down there.

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Speaker 4: The contracted one, Chuck took me in as one of

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Speaker 4: his own, and so did the family, and I've been

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Speaker 4: close to them since that point. We now both work

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Speaker 4: for CareFlight Ian Darwin.

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Speaker 3: Chuck is one of our training aircre officers and now

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Speaker 3: me as the chief air crew Officer. So you've been

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Speaker 3: very close to the family for all that time, mate.

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Speaker 1: They sound like an incredible family, a real territory family

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Speaker 1: and really huge part of the community.

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Speaker 3: Very much a humbled, community minded family. Lou Downing Catherine

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Speaker 3: was in the CWA, She was a counselor for young

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Speaker 3: breastfeeding mothers. She was a footy team manager at swamp Dogs.

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Speaker 3: As we speak. Chuck with a medic with the local

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Speaker 3: footy team swamp Dogs as well, and obviously his career

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Speaker 3: spanned eighteen years across the top end end of the

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Speaker 3: aircre officer to certainly dedicated his career to very community based.

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Speaker 1: Work.

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Speaker 2: Later on Australia Day, their lives changed forever. How are

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Speaker 2: they going, Yes, the.

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Speaker 3: Long long road, Katie. They are fighting, fit, young family

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Speaker 3: and surrounded by the like as well with their family,

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Speaker 3: so yeah, they're in for a long road. Lou's making

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Speaker 3: some small progressions here in Perth and Chuck's. We're just

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Speaker 3: about to transition to the rehab phase for Chuck down

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Speaker 3: here in Perth. The boys are getting well looked after,

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Speaker 3: Bill and Maureen, their grandparents Mary. Lou's parents relocated from

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Speaker 3: Catherine to Perth. We secured him a house down here

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Speaker 3: as well, and we're just starting the homeschooling phase through

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Speaker 3: their school in the Northern Territory. So yeah, the fight

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Speaker 3: is on mate.

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Speaker 1: I know you said, you know the boys are being

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Speaker 1: well looked after, but how are they going.

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Speaker 3: They yeah, they're getting there. They know that mum and

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Speaker 3: dad are still in critical conditions in hospital. They're getting

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Speaker 3: the support by allied health professionals down here. They're very

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Speaker 3: positive family and that's spread through them through the McGregor's

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Speaker 3: shore and O'Keefe family. So yeah, they had some tough days,

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Speaker 3: but overall they're very positive people and then fighting for

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Speaker 3: mum and dad as well.

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Speaker 2: I'm looking at some photos of them.

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Speaker 1: They look like an absolutely beautiful family, like they look

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Speaker 1: like a.

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Speaker 2: True territory family.

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Speaker 1: I can see a photo of the boys with their

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Speaker 1: head gear on, you know, ready to play footy.

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Speaker 2: They look like incredible people.

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Speaker 1: And I know that the community has absolutely dug deep

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Speaker 1: to try and help them. Right, So this go fundme

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Speaker 1: page is being set up. Tell me what these funds

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Speaker 1: really are for, so.

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Speaker 3: The community help in this. It's only been twenty four

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Speaker 3: hours and you've seen what the page has done, and

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Speaker 3: it's amazing. It's going to go towards secure and sort

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Speaker 3: of the boys' future. Where we sit now, their schooling

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Speaker 3: still continues, living still happen, so it's just to help

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Speaker 3: the grandparents and help the boys get through day to

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Speaker 3: day life as we spend most of our days in

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Speaker 3: hospital with Chuck and Luz. So yeah, food for the boys,

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Speaker 3: schooling for the boys, clothing for the boys while we

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Speaker 3: go through this tough time.

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Speaker 1: Now, this page was set up, by the look of it, yesterday,

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Speaker 1: if I'm right, it's been up for one day and

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Speaker 1: it has already raised one hundred and twenty seven thousand dollars.

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Speaker 1: If that doesn't show you the kind of family this is,

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Speaker 1: and I don't know.

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Speaker 3: What will exactly right in every corner of this of Australia,

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Speaker 3: they've touched people. Us, as I said, spent eighteen years

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Speaker 3: in the top end of an air c officer on

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Speaker 3: rescue helicopters. The also spent time down in Canberra as well,

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Speaker 3: and he was in the Army before that. But the

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Speaker 3: help and the assistance has come out of the top

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Speaker 3: end is just amazing and has surpassed anything we thought

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Speaker 3: we'd ever get to with that go fum me page.

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Speaker 3: At first, they're very as I said, very humbled people.

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Speaker 3: They were very shy on sort of putting it out there.

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Speaker 3: But as we sort of encourage s Chuck through the process.

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Speaker 3: It's to help the boys and his focus, his number

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Speaker 3: one focus, or these top three focuses, is the boys,

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Speaker 3: the boys and the boys, and that's what he stresses

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Speaker 3: to me every day.

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Speaker 1: And you know what, those boys need their mum and dad,

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Speaker 1: and they need their mum and dad to be able

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Speaker 1: to focus on their recovery and not having to worry about,

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Speaker 1: you know, about where you're finding money when you're not

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Speaker 1: able to work is.

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Speaker 3: A huge thing, absolutely huge. And obviously they're away from

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Speaker 3: their friends, they're in a state so far from the

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Speaker 3: top end. So to get that help for them, he's

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Speaker 3: just awesome.

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Speaker 1: They tell me, Kurt, you've been there with somere like

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Speaker 1: where to now on the road to recovery.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, So Mary Lou's on award now receiving treatment for

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Speaker 3: her head injury. We're getting small progressions with her. They're

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Speaker 3: going to be in hot hospital for a long long time.

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Speaker 3: Charles is stally nice to you here at Royal Perth.

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Speaker 3: Next for him is going to go to Fiona Stanley

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Speaker 3: Hospital just south of the city and what they offer

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Speaker 3: down there is the full spinal rehab, so that's where

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Speaker 3: he will be set up for the suceeeable future and

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Speaker 3: twelve plus months we expect to be they're doing his

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Speaker 3: rehab plan.

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Speaker 1: Mate. Obviously, anybody can jump online, they can donate to

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Speaker 1: help support the McGregor shore Boys, and that is exactly

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Speaker 1: what they need to search if they go onto that

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Speaker 1: go fund me page, help support the McGregor Shure Boys. Kurt,

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Speaker 1: pass on our love to the family. Let them know

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Speaker 1: that the whole of the Northern Territory is thinking of them.

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Speaker 1: I think that they you know, they may already know

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Speaker 1: that based on these donations that are flowing through, but

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Speaker 1: it is just a heart wrenching situation that they've been through.

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Speaker 1: I cannot even imagine what it's like for this little family.

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Speaker 1: And let them know that, you know, we are really

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Speaker 1: praying for a full recovery. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: No, I well, and appreciate the time on three sixty

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Speaker 3: as well, Katie.

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Speaker 1: Yeah anytime, mate, thank you so much for having a

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Speaker 1: chat with us. And yeah, as I said, we're all

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Speaker 1: thinking of them and really hoping that they make you know,

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Speaker 1: a quick recovery and a full recovery, absolutely and.

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Speaker 3: We get them back to the territory where they want

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Speaker 3: to be.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I reckon sounds like those that footy team is

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Speaker 1: going to fully be missing them as well.

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Speaker 4: Kirt absolutely three players, a team manager.

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Speaker 1: In the medic's Sure Sure Is Well Care flight chief

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Speaker 1: aircrew officer Kurt Pride.

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Speaker 2: I really appreciate you talking to me this morning. Thanks mate,

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Speaker 2: Thanks Katie, thank you