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January 30, 2025

Nursing graduate’s unstoppable journey to study medicine

Determination and tenacity led Donna Tonkin to graduate despite freak accident

After countless years of wanting to pursue a degree, the timing was finally right for Donna Lee Tonkin to enrol in university as a mature-age student.  

“I thought of doing medicine years ago but had to give up. I’ve started degrees on and off, but never finished,” she said. 

“I have always loved learning, but raising kids got in the way. With my husband's work we moved around, so I gave up on the idea.” 

Having spent the previous nine years in Griffith and Broken Hill with her husband and their three children - now 13, 15 and 19, Donna said moving to the Shoalhaven was the impetus she needed to start her degree.  

“When we got moved from Griffith to Nowra in 2022, the timing was perfect for me to start something new.” 

_{Donna with her mum, Elaine Belson, at the graduation ceremony.}

Donna admits nursing wasn’t necessarily a natural fit, but life experience led her to consider it. As a mother she has had her fair share of medical issues with her children over the years.  

“I had never considered nursing before, but I love science and maths. I had some friends who were nurses who observed that I didn’t react and get stressed in emergency situations and suggested I’d be a good nurse.  

“I enrolled at the University of ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½ (UOW) Shoalhaven thinking I would use nursing as a pathway to medicine.” 

As soon as she stepped onto campus for the first time, Donna knew she had made the right decision.  

“On the first day, I drove into the campus and because I'm a country girl I loved the fact that there were kangaroos everywhere. I felt right at home.” 

For Donna to be standing, let alone walking across the stage to graduate today (Thursday 30 January) with a Bachelor of Nursing with Distinction from UOW, is testament to her tenacity and determination. 

In late 2023, Donna suffered two broken legs during a freak accident while on a farm in Goulburn. Despite spending 25 days in hospital, months in recovery and having to learn how to walk again, she never lost sight of the big picture.   

“I was only three days into my first regional nursing placement at Goulburn Hospital when I was attacked by a ram and broke both my legs.”  

Lying in a hospital bed, overlooking the mental health facility where she was meant to be undertaking her placement, was testing but she credits the support of her family, friends and faith as being critical in her recovery.   

“My husband is a church pastor of the Seventh-Day Adventist church, and after my accident there were pastors and church members across the country praying for me, sending cards, flowers, gifts, and visiting. My husband's mentor even drove to Goulburn from Canberra to visit me in hospital.  

"I thank God for being with me every step of the way." 

_{Joshua Tonkin, Adam Tonkin, Jessica Tonkin and Michael Tonkin celebrating Donna's special day.}

With the kindness of a fellow graduate, Donna was able to get through it and keep her dreams on track.  

“My uni friend, April Lowe, helped me through the whole hospital experience by sending me a message every day I was in hospital.  

“She knows how important my faith is to me, so she would send me Bible texts, words of encouragement and let me know she was thinking of me. It really helped lift my spirits and feel connected to the outside world.” 

Once home Donna was bedbound for a further seven weeks until she started rehabilitation to learn to walk again.  

“I was confined to a bed at home, it was frustrating. I started third-year nursing in a wheelchair. 

“Nothing was going to stop me though. Because I wanted to study medicine, I booked my GAMSAT (Graduate Medical School Admissions Test) not knowing if I'd be able to walk into the building and actually sit the exam.” 

She tweaked her schedule, pushing her placements as close to the end of her degree as possible to ensure she could walk and stand for the 440 hours it took to complete her remaining three nursing placements. 

The support she received from the Shoalhaven campus staff made all the difference.  

“All the tutors were amazing and so supportive. They adjusted things so I could do labs in a wheelchair for a couple of weeks.” 

Donna successfully completed her final three placements back-to-back in a mammoth effort, passed her GAMSAT and was accepted into post-graduate study at UOW Shoalhaven undertaking a Doctor of Medicine. 

 “After the three placements I think I was physically and mentally hanging by a thread. But I got through.”  

She views her accident and time in hospital in leg braces as an experience that will make her a better nurse, and one day a doctor.  

“Now I know what it's like to be in a hospital, to be the patient. To have people bring you bedpans, roll you over and help you with everything. I know first-hand how vulnerable you feel when you can’t get up and do things for yourself. You rely on the nurses turning up, being kind and helping you.” 

Donna finished her undergraduate degree on time and this week commenced her first semester of post-graduate study.  

“In order to attend graduation today and celebrate the end of my nursing studies I had to apply for academic consideration not to attend today’s classes. 

“I’ve wanted this for a very long time. It’s surreal that it has actually happened. It has been a wild ride.”