Being profoundly deaf has not stopped him from becoming a veterinarian, a successful businessman, a pilot, an overseas traveller and a guest speaker of note.

The good news for the people of Parkes is that he is a regular visitor to town and will be speaking at a men’s breakfast at the International Motor Inn on Saturday, September 6, at 7.30am.

George was born with very little hearing and he was not encouraged to sign as a child, which has led to him to being able to lip read and speak extremely well.

He spent three years on the land as a farmer in Queensland in the early 1970s before turning his love of the land into studying a vet science degree.

After graduating from Queensland University, George worked as a vet in Walgett from 1978 to 1990 and later was appointed Principal Vet Officer with Biosecurity Australia in Canberra.

There he specialised in developing policies of international trade in semen and embryos of livestock, and assisted with containing and treating the Newcastle disease outbreaks at Blacktown, foot-and-mouth disease in the UK in 2001 and the recent Equine Influenza outbreak.

This role also allowed him to travel to South-East Asia and train vets in disease risk analysis, present papers at international conferences and meet with vets.

George is also a committed Christian, an active supporter of the Australian Parliamentary Prayer Network and has been committed to the missionary work of Vision Ministries for more than 20 years.

His missionary work has taken him to Nigeria and he is currently in Vietnam where he will stay before arriving in Parkes for the men’s breakfast.

All men who would like to be inspired by George’s experiences are most welcome to attend the breakfast. However tickets are limited. Tickets are available from Still Waters Christian Book Shop.