She Didn’t Have to Suffer This Way

She didn’t have to suffer this way

A joey handed over at death’s door—emaciated, riddled with infection, barely breathing. She didn’t have to suffer this way. If only they had reached out sooner. If only they had handed her to an experienced carer who knew what to do. She deserved a fighting chance. She deserved better.

A kangaroo tangled in rusted wire, legs twisted, skin torn, eyes wide with fear. She didn’t have to suffer this way. If only the property owner had kept their fences in good repair. If only someone had walked the boundary and removed the hazards. She died trying to escape a trap that should never have existed.

A kangaroo caught in a fence for days—struggling, starving, suffering. She didn’t have to suffer this way. If only there had been safe kangaroo gates. If only someone had thought about coexistence instead of control. She fought for her life while the world turned away.

A joey came into care stinking of death—her tiny body soaked in the decomposition of her mother. She didn’t have to suffer this way. If only the driver had stopped. If only they had checked the pouch. She lay beside her mother’s body for days, waiting for help that never came.

A kangaroo left broken after a motor vehicle accident—bones shattered, lungs collapsed, still alive. She didn’t have to suffer this way. If only the driver had stopped. If only they had called for help. She could have been spared the agony. She could have been held, comforted, released from pain with dignity.

She didn’t have to suffer this way

To the joey who died because someone fed cow’s milk. To the kangaroo who was chased for sport. To the baby left in a box overnight in winter. To the mob displaced by bulldozers, shooters and fencing. To the carers who found them too late.

It didn’t have to be this way.

We are tired. Tired of burying the innocent. Tired of explaining the basics. Tired of watching preventable suffering unfold again and again.

But we are not giving up.

Because even when the scars from the last She didn’t have to suffer this way haven’t yet healed— Carers still show up. With hearts held together by grief and grit. With hands ready to comfort, to rescue, to fight for what’s right. They show up for the next joey, the next call, the next chance to make it different.

We will keep showing up. We will keep educating. We will keep fighting for change. Because every life matters. Because every loss leaves a scar. Because love demands action.

And because next time— She still didn’t have to suffer this way

"Jarew—caught in cruel wire, but not forgotten. Rescued by strangers who chose kindness over indifference, his name now carries theirs: Jack and Drew. A reminder that it didn’t have to be this way—and that sometimes, it still doesn’t have to be."

“Inspiring hope and healing for Australia’s wildlife, one rescue at a time.”