Written By Catherine Annetts
If someone had told me a few years ago where life would take our family, I never would have believed them.
I’m Catherine Annetts, and together with my husband Jeremy, we’re the proud owners of Training Centre Hervey Bay and BDA Training. While we’re passionate about first aid, emergency response and workplace safety, our business is really built on something much deeper: our family’s journey.
A few years ago, we were living and working on Hamilton Island. Life was busy; we were building our careers and looking forward to the future. Then everything changed.
Our daughter Brooklyn was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma.
Nothing prepares you for hearing those words. In an instant, our priorities shifted. The things we once thought were important no longer mattered. Our focus became our family, spending precious time together and making sure we could be there for every appointment, every treatment and every challenge that lay ahead.
Like so many families, we experienced fear, uncertainty and heartbreak, but we also experienced incredible kindness. During Brooklyn’s treatment, the Leukaemia Foundation became a lifeline for us, providing a home away from home and supporting our family through one of the most difficult times of our lives. Their compassion is something we will never forget and remains close to our hearts today.
That journey changed our perspective forever. It reminded us how precious life is and inspired us to build a future that reflected what mattered most: family, helping others and making a positive difference in our community.
Jeremy has more than 25 years of frontline firefighting and emergency response experience. I have worked as a Registered Nurse across New South Wales and Queensland for 15 years. Between us, we’ve witnessed emergencies from many different perspectives and understand how important it is for people to have the confidence to act when every second counts.
Those experiences became the foundation of our business.
We established BDA Training and later had the privilege of purchasing Training Centre Hervey Bay, creating a business that combines our professional experience with our passion for education and community.
Today, we deliver nationally recognised training in CPR, First Aid, Remote First Aid, Advanced Resuscitation, Fire Safety and workplace emergency response. More importantly, we strive to make every course practical, engaging and relevant, so our students leave with the confidence to use their skills in a real emergency, not just to gain a qualification.
We’re proud to work alongside Allens Training Pty Ltd (RTO 90909), allowing us to provide high-quality nationally recognised training while maintaining the highest standards.
Giving back has also become an important part of who we are. Recently, we raised funds for the Leukaemia Foundation as a small way of thanking an organisation that helped keep our family together when we needed it most. Supporting other families facing similar challenges is something we will always be passionate about.
Today, Brooklyn is in remission, and every day we’re reminded just how resilient children can be. She continues to inspire us and reminds us why we do what we do.
Training Centre Hervey Bay and BDA Training are more than businesses; they’re a reflection of our family’s resilience, our shared experience and our belief that the right training can give ordinary people the confidence to do extraordinary things. Not only do we offer public courses weekly at our training centre, but we also provide private group training on site for businesses.
If our journey has taught us anything, it’s that life can change in an instant. We can’t always control what happens, but we can choose to be prepared, help others, and make every opportunity count. That’s the message we hope every student takes with them long after they leave our classroom.
https://firstaidqueensland.net.au
