At a glance
- CONTENT WARNING: We speak about some confronting topics in this article, including suicide. Help is available.
- Wounded Heroes Australia is a 24/7 crisis support service for veterans and their families and serving ADF members.
- The charity receives no government funding. 100% of every public donation goes back to veterans and families.
- Martin Shaw has been the President of Wounded Heroes Australia since 2011. His wife Kim Shaw is the charity’s Philanthropy Manager.
This week, The Australian Women’s Weekly Love Stories launched a special new series. Called Acts of Service, we have partnered with Wounded Heroes Australia to showcase the great act of love that many around the country have given for our country; as well as the unseen, and often devastating, effects that can have not just on them, but their families. A trigger warning: we will speak about some confronting topics in this series, including suicide.
To kick off, I sat down with the charity’s President, Martin Shaw, and his wife (and Wounded Heroes Australia’s Philanthropy Manager) Kim, to talk about the love that drives them to do this incredible work.
Wounded Heroes Australia offers a 24/7 crisis service. When other charities close up shop at the end of business hours, their phone lines are always open to take crisis calls. And, quite often, Martin is the one who picks up.
“In the 6,760 hours a year that is non-working hours, we’re open,” he told me. “And we’re taking those through the night to make sure that we can meet the needs of the veteran community when they need it most.”
Martin details a range of situations and calls where answering the phone has literally saved a life. Suicide is the leading cause of death for ex-serving Australian Defence Force (ADF) members. In addition, studies have linked PTSD with an increased incidence of intimate and family domestic violence (DV) in veteran homes.
Listen to the episode:
What does Wounded Heroes Australia do?
When Martin receives a call – no matter the time of night – within 10 minutes he’ll have organised the essentials needed. It might be food vouchers, emergency accommodation, medication, fuel vouchers or simply an understanding ear.
“Martin is the kindest man I’ve ever met in my life,” Kim, who herself has experienced DV, said of her husband’s passion for the cause. “He’d take the shirt off his back if you needed it, and he’d go cold. If you were to ring him in crisis, the thing he’ll say to you is, ‘Don’t worry, I’ve got you.’ And I can tell you, from someone that’s been in crisis myself previously, when you hear those words, it is so comforting.
“Within his crisis response that he does every week, he would get a minimum of 10 texts from people that he’s helped saying, ‘Hi, Martin. Thank you so much. You didn’t know it, but I was gonna take my life that day.'”
Since Martin joined the charity – first as a volunteer, then as serving President – he’s ensured that 100% of every public donation goes back to veterans and families.
“There’s not many charities that can say that,” he says. “We’ve looked after 43 odd thousand veterans and families in that time and that’s pretty, pretty powerful work. But that’s the reason I do it.”
Love in action
Martin met Kim in 2018 when she came in to do some work for Wounded Heroes Australia.
“One day, Kim came into my office and said that she’d left her husband and my heart jumped,” Martin told me of when it became more serious in 2022.
“He asked me out in front of one of his staff members, and I said, ‘Oh, no way. I’m not going out with you.'” Kim laughed “I said, ‘You’re a flirt, and I’m not interested in that.’ He chased me down the stairs, and he’s like,’ No, I promise you, I’m not a flirt.'”
“But we ended up going out on a date, and we’ve just been together ever since. ”
While Martin has two crisis managers who look after the calls from 9 am till 5 pm on weekdays, weekends and nights are his shift. And, he admitted, since he and Kim wed in 2023, it’s getting harder to do.
“I’ve now got a reason to go home and have a weekend because I was on my own for so long,” he said. “People don’t get what I do. Kim does.”
While he joked that “flowers” help keep their marriage on track, Kim said it’s the shared sense of purpose – as well as a sense of humour – that protects their union.
“And we’ve got some really good friends and family,” she added. “That really helps to keep us grounded and together.
“I’m not gonna lie, some days are really tough, and we get some really tough crisis calls that can be quite upsetting. They don’t have great endings sometimes. But at the end of the day, we’ve just got each other. That’s what matters to us.”
Watch the episode:
Acts of Service is brought to you by Wounded Heroes Australia.
Listen to the Acts of Service podcast from The Australian Women’s Weekly Love Stories wherever you get your podcasts. More information here.
Wounded Heroes is a national, grassroots charity that provides 24/7 crisis support for current serving Australian Defence Force members, veterans and their families that experience financial crisis, homelessness or are at risk, or family and domestic violence (FDV). If they need urgent financial support for things such as food, fuel and / or emergency accommodation – we are only a phone call away: 1300 532 112
