Tony Dell and the Lightning Bolt Convoy: raising awareness of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Tony Dell played a couple of Tests for Australia in the early 70s. He played as a fast-medium left-arm bowler and debuted against England in the seventh and final Test at Sydney in 1970-71, taking five wickets in a new-ball partnership with Dennis Lillee.

 

He is also a Vietnam vet and in recent years has been a tireless advocate for Post Traumatic Stress (PTS) Disorder via his Stand Tall for PTS initiative. He has the support of numerous cricketing mates.

 

LightningBolt

Recently he set up a Lightning Bolt convoy to create awareness of PTS and the organisation’s hopes.

The orange lightning bolt symbolises the instant that people are changed by the shocking anguish of PTS that inevitably and insidiously affects families and even whole communities.

We have adopted this as a symbol to represent Post Traumatic Stress, PTS. Since its design, we have produced a simple Lightning Bolt badge, which has already been worn proudly by many participants of past Stand Tall Events. By wearing the badge, we demonstrate our support for the Stand Tall For PTS cause.

We are hoping to partner with a major retailer to help sell Lightning Bolt merchandise at national outlets to assist with fundraising.

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The story of this convoy should be known.

And it can be known, as Tony Dell kept diary entries which now appear online. As a taster, Day 1 began at Suncorp Stadium…

“Yesterday’s launch at Suncorp Stadium, of the Lightning Bolt Convoy, was an amazing experience. We had incredible involvement from the Military, The Queensland Police, Queensland Ambulance, and Queensland Fire and Rescue services. My thanks go out to all of them and their display of commitment to what we are trying to achieve. The first leg of the trip down the M1 was a great experience with lights flashing and an escort from the elite police motorcycle squad. We had hoped to get good media coverage but what we received on day one far exceeded our expectations….”

 

Tony Dell’s Diary of the Convoy is here: http://standtall4pts.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Dell-Diary.pdf

 

Here is a short video highlighting achievements of the convey:

 

Further details, including how to be involved, are explained here: http://thelightningbolt.org.au

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Brydon Coverdale of Cricinfo wrote this story of Tony Dell and his Stand Tall for PTS initiative in January 2015: http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/story/820379.html

Comments

  1. E.regnans says

    Hats off Tony Dell.
    Too many suffer in relative silence; unknown.

    Long may your efforts bring reward to others.

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