Tanja Gatnik came to Goondiwindi from Slovenia to work as a radiographer in 1992, intending to stay for only six months.

She never expected that she would be opening the door on a new life, or that she would be using equipment only dreamed of 16 years ago.

“I heard they were looking for radiographers in rural Australia, and I thought, why not?” Six months has turned into 16 years and Tanja says she wouldn’t have it any other way. After working at Goondiwindi Hospital for most of those, Tanja moved out on her own.

But time isn’t the only thing she has invested in the town. A remarkable piece of equipment is giving parents a sneak peak at their babies. And that’s just the start of what it can do.

“You can see them breathing, even see them sometimes blinking. It is very, very clear, and so wonderful for mothers to see,” Tanja said.

“It is such a pleasure to do.”

Tanja has a strong commitment to making the very latest and best technology available to people living in country areas.

“They deserve the best, just like people would expect in cities.” Tanja imported the Philips iU 22 machine from the United States earlier this year. “I wanted better. I knew I could do more than the old ultrasound machine could do.”

The machine is not used for “diagnostics”. That means there can be no sad surprises.

“It would be too confronting. All the pathology and morphology tests are done first, and only then do we use the 3D machine.” At the moment the scans are not covered by Medicare and Tanja said she will decide what to do in the future.

“At the moment we are still seeing what the machine can do.” After 16 years in Australia, Tanja said she is here to stay. She’s married to local David Wells, who she met at “The Pit”. “Oh, don’t put that it.” (Sorry Tanja we couldn’t resist). Their son William is a very talented athlete and he’s off to Toowoomba Grammar next year. So while she misses the snow and her family in Slovenia, and says she’s forgotten how to speak French after all this time, Tanja has made Australia and Goondiwindi her home.

Slovenia is a country in southern Central Europe bordering Italy to the west, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north. The capital of Slovenia is Ljubljana.