13-weeks pregnant RFS firefighter defends being on the frontline
A Rural Fire Service volunteer has told The Daily Telegraph she stands by her decision to be on the frontline in northern NSW despite being 13-weeks pregnant. Katherine Robinson-Williams said she has the full support of her husband and crew members.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A firefighter who is 13-weeks pregnant is not backing down from defending her state against the catastrophic blazes engulfing NSW.
Katherine Robinson-Williams, 23, has joined hundreds of Rural Fire Service volunteers from across NSW in fighting more than 80 active bushfires.
She told The Daily Telegraph the decision has gotten the support from her husband and crew members.
“My husband, Kyle Robinson, and my in-laws were very supportive of my decision, he is a firefighter himself,” she said.
“The fires around the state are so severe I knew I had to help.
“All my crewmen on the truck backed the decision. They were happy to have me on board.”
Ms Robinson-Williams, who works in childcare, has been in the RFS for the past 10 years and met her husband through the RFS.
“I met my husband a couple of years ago while I was working on the northern beaches. I saw him and thought okay, I fancied him a little bit but he kind of blew me off. That’s alright,” she said.
“He wasn’t interested in a relationship. But last year we reconnected and four months later we got engaged and married March. Now we’re expecting a child.”
She added she had spoken to her doctor about the potential danger.
“I’m a horse rider and my doctor said you can keep doing the things you used to before you are pregnant because my body is used to it,” she said.
“This is one of those things.”
In a photo she posted on Instagram she said she’ll stay on duty as long as her state is “in flames”.
“For all the females on the ground in NSW right now. We stand together, we stand proud. Yes, I am a firefighter. No I’m not a man. Yes I am a female, yes I am pregnant,” Ms Robinson-Williams wrote.
“Yes I am going to the fires and yes I’ll be alright. No I won’t just stay behind. No I don’t care if you don’t like it.”
She added: “This is my state in flames. I love my country, I love my mates and if that means I’m needed on the ground then I’ll always make the way.”
“As long as I am physically able to help I’ll always work my best. As I’m a firefighter, just like all the rest.”
An her Instagram post showing her baby’s ultrasound, she called her ‘Bub” a “little firefighter in the making”.
“Safe to say ‘fighting fires before you were born’,” she wrote.