Carol Mudford was working in shearing sheds, putting in 10-hour days and loving the rough and tumble of rural work.

While shearing sheep and working as a wool handler in western NSW during a break from nursing, Ms Mudford began to notice a tough-as-nails "she'll be right" attitude prevailing among her colleagues.

Ms Mudford returned to the health sector to work as a nurse for a rural suicide prevention program in late 2023 and during her first month on the job, three shearers took their own lives across Australia.

The moment immediately spurred her into action.

Combining her nursing and shearing skills, she founded sHedway, a charity that runs mental health and suicide prevention workshops in the nation's shearing sheds.

After hosting more than 70 workshops in sheds across most stat

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