Annan Biography

Andrew Cameron was born in Whangarei on the 31st December 1956. He grew up in Taradale, Hawkes Bay with his family. His youth was like the average kiwi kid, he used to ride his bike around everywhere, especially down to his local river. He would jump into the water and float downstream, then get out and do it all over again.

In school, he would get failed when all his classmates passed even though he was as good as them, and was discriminated against by his teachers. His teachers were nasty and cruel, they used corporal punishments back in those days, by using a cane to beat you with. You had to bend over in front of the class and they’d give you 6 beatings with it. Every day he went to school terrified that he would be beaten by his sadistic teachers again, so he dropped out of school at the age of 16. He just sort of wandered around after that looking for jobs. He picked apples, worked in a factory, worked at KFC, and that sort of thing.

Later he went to 5 universities to get some qualifications and make up for lost time. He went to Massey University, La Trobe University, Monash University, Melbourne Institute of Technology, and the University of Queensland. He got into nursing because he thought it might be good for him and he wanted to do something useful. He also met his wife in Brisbane, Australia.

He then served as a nurse in the Iraq war, the civil war in South Sudan, the civil war in Yemen, the war of South Ossetia, and the war in Afghanistan. He served 4 years in Afghanistan.

Andrew has been awarded the NZ Nursing Medal, the Florence Nightingale Medal (which is the highest international distinction a nurse can receive), the Order of Australia Medal, the Humanitarian Overseas Service Medal, The NZ Operational Service Medal, the NZ Afghanistan Service Medal, The NZ Iraq Service Medal, The NZ Afghanistan (Secondary Operational Area) Service Medal, the Queen sent him the Ebola Medal for Service In West Africa, and the Australian Governor General's Commemorative Medal, for Service in Birdsville. He was also awarded the Distinguished Alumni Service Medal from Massey University, the Distinguished Alumni Service Medal from La Trobe University, and the Distinguished Alumni Medal from The University of Queensland (He says none of those Universities used the cane).

He says he should have joined the St John organisation. He also adds that you should work hard, strive to find a way to help people less fortunate than yourself, say or do something kind to everyone you meet every day, and the less time you spend staring at a screen, the happier you will be. He has written a book about his adventures as a nurse called: A Nurse on the Edge of the Desert: From Birdsville to Kandahar: The Art of Extreme Nursing. To this day he carries on as a Nurse, risking his life and working hard to help others.