Two people from such different worlds have been united by an intense blend of sorrow and salvation. Both have traveled their powerful journeys, born out of tragedy and found strength through determination. Damian Duffy’s early life was profoundly impacted by the Milperra Massacre. Today, he’s using his traumatic past to fuel an amazing restorative purpose, serving as a mentor and spiritual healer in communities all over the Northern Territory. Olive Gully has courageously walked through her pain. She has been doggedly pursuing justice after her husband was shot to death in an armed robbery.
Duffy’s tale first starts unfolding on Father’s Day in 1984 when he was still an infant. His parents were embroiled in the Milperra Massacre, a violent confrontation between two motorcycle gangs, which left seven people dead. His father, Robert John Heeney, was subsequently convicted of manslaughter and sent to prison. Duffy’s formative years were irrevocably impacted by the loss of this stability. His lay-out of these years of chaos and instability.
“My mum was charged with affray, and I think they later dropped that charge due to not being able to identify her in the courtroom,” Duffy recalled. The chaos within the home life only made it harder for Duffy to control his rage while growing up. By 18, his father had introduced him to drugs, sending Duffy down a dark path of addiction and dealing.
I ended up not only taking drugs, but I started dealing drugs… I became a drug addict because that was an ultimate escape,” he said. Despite this to Duffy’s credit, he has made substantial changes to his life since 2012. Today, after years of work with crocodiles, he’s a leadership coach and youth mentor. He frequently visits adult prisons to support people with bail funds and instruction as they exit and enter society.
In an insightful reflection on his connection with crocodiles, Duffy noted, “Crocodiles are one of the most misunderstood animals that I can think of… It’s the same with me. I feel that connection of just being misunderstood.” He believes he has a duty to stand up for people who don’t have a voice. “Whereas I have a voice, crocodiles do not. I don’t want to stand by and watch other people or other things get hurt,” he explained.
On the opposite end of this story arc, is Olive Gully. She survived her own nightmare when her husband, Jason, was shot dead in 2004 while attempting to prevent an armed robbery at a Melbourne nightclub. The heartbreaking event turned her world upside down and she struggled with her anger for more than a decade.
We were both brand new parents, and six months later, shit hit the fan. It felt like our world just crumbled for my son and I,” Vonda Gully remembered. It was years before she was able to deal with the emotions of Jason’s death. Gully went through a restorative justice program. Sixteen years after his son’s murder, he visited Jason’s killer in prison to find closure.
He did not just apologize to me, but apologised in behalf of my son, but for my family. And he expressed sorrow to Jason’s family and to his own family, Gully shared. This meeting brought her a great sense of relief, because for so long she carried around the weight of incompletion. It was meaningful to me because he never said in court what the final steps were that he took. To me, that was definitely unfinished business,” she remarked.
While faced with the pain of dealing with her husband’s murder, Gully has made some proactive moves. “I’m in a good headspace and I move on — let go of my past,” she confirmed.
Duffy’s journey toward healing has been about facing his history and accepting the process of growth. Looking back on his path, he highlighted the importance of working your way through times when you don’t know where you’re going. “I strayed from the path many times. So I pretty quickly found myself reverting to old habits and just sort of being adrift again. As someone who lost themselves in order to grow, I can’t stress enough how important the process is. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve really grown into the cement of what I’m trying to be today,” he described.
We are buoyed by Damian Duffy and Olive Gully, who in the face of profound adversity, remind us to dream big. They channeled those experiences into a fierce dedication to serve their peers. Together, they both touch on the importance of knowing where you’ve been as you march onward toward recovery and restoration.
Sarah Milosevic’s trauma-based journey cuts into this narrative of loss and resilience to tell a much more vibrant and marbled story. In 2014, she was involved in a terrible motor vehicle accident which took the life of her unborn daughter, Sophie. Milosevic then lobbied for changes to legislation in Queensland that led to the introduction and eventual passing of Sophie’s Law in 2023.
“I hated him, and I still hate him today,” Milosevic expressed regarding those responsible for her tragedy. Her activism is a powerful example of her drive to deal with loss on a personal level. In her new role, she’s advocating for systemic changes that will ensure other families don’t go through the same tragedy.
