My neighbours at Bucca, were determined to spray pesticides on their gum trees. No-one needs to spray gums and the couple of fruit trees  they did have could have been sprayed with products that would not have harmed me. They sprayed every 3 to 10 days in summer and the smell was in the air in our house and on our land. I knew that the sprays would affect me and my children badly so I arranged for several doctors to write to them and explain that I was extremely chemically sensitive. Even this would not change their minds and it became a pattern. 12 to 14 hours after they sprayed, my whole body function would just shut down with pain in every nerve and muscle. I was rushed to hospital by ambulance several times and on other occasions would lay in bed at home feeling that I was dying. The neighbours would not stop spraying and it was only after publicity that the Department of Agriculture finally did something to help. They got the neighbours to agree to temporarily stop spraying if we would agree to sell. The Health Department did nothing. My illness put so much stress on the family that we could not cope with a court case to fight for our rights. We sold our house for a song and moved. My husband had to give up work to care for me and for the children, who were emotionally damaged by their experience.

p102 Quick Poison Slow Poison. Pesticide Risk in the Lucky Country. Kate Short 1994