Just Dave takes us on the remarkable true journey of an ordinary man who lives an extraordinary life. You will be taken back to some of the most shameful episodes in Australia's modern history through the eyes of an abused child, a serviceman and adult. David Cushway, a Ten Pound Pom, served in the Royal Australian Navy during the Vietnam war and later in the Royal Australian Air force. Joining the navy at fifteen to escape his abusive parents, and making the journey to HMAS Leeuwin from Southport, Dave was swiftly initiated into a culture of institutional abuse. One of the youngest serving sailors on HMAS Melbourne during its infamous collision with the Frank E Evans in 1969, Dave's lonely journey of survival begins. Surviving in Western Sydney and the Central West as a barman, a gold fossicker and a counsellor to the unemployed and the homeless, Dave lived two lonely and complex lives. Dave penned his astonishing life story in a psychiatric hospital where he was treated for depression, PTSD and alcoholism.
A husband, a father and a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder sufferer, Dave has had a complex and challenging life yet provides candid story telling with typical Australian humour. You will relive the self-effacing and moving story of survival, and experience the shock, pain, laughter and sadness Dave did. Just Dave develops our awareness and challenges our misunderstanding of people who suffer mental illness providing profound insight and hope