The Trauma Cleaner

Sandra Pankhurst is the woman behind the biography, ‘The Trauma Cleaner’. Sandra’s job as a trauma cleaner has led her into dark homes where death, sickness and madness have suddenly abbreviated the lives inside. She is called on to deal with diverse trauma clean-ups, from unattended deaths and suicides, to cases of long-term property neglect where homes have, in her words, “fallen into disrepute”.

Most people are surprised to learn that the police, firefighters or ambulances do not do trauma clean-up - that is why Sandra’s work is varied and so often includes crime scenes, floods and fires.

Sandra is also a transgender woman who was adopted into an abusive family and forced to live a malnourished life in a backyard shed.

On this episode, Sandra gives us a glimpse of her story.

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