“NO HOLDS barred – I’ll answer any question you want to ask,” those were among the first words uttered by the fascinating Sandra Pankhurst recently – and she meant it.
Around 180 people packed Mount Gambier City Hall to hear from the subject of award-winning book The Trauma Cleaner about everything from cleaning up grisly crime scenes to being among the first gender reassignment patients in Australia.
Larger-than-life and refreshingly candid, Ms Pankhurst revealed she was no longer in touch with the author, but happily discussed the book, which has been optioned by Netflix.
“The author and I don’t speak any more – we only talk through our lawyers,” Ms Pankhurst said.
“The Trauma Cleaner has sold like hot cakes, but I haven’t seen a cent from the book.
“To have so many people interested in my story and almost 200 of you here tonight is so validating and so important to me because the book does promote a message about overcoming adversity.”
Sandra was born Peter and was adopted into an alcoholic family, where he was subjected to extreme violence and neglect.
Peter went on to marry and had two children, but started to lead a double life exploring the gay scene in Melbourne.
Leaving behind a young family, Sandra took on another name in the ’70s and started her new life dancing in clubs in St Kilda and working as a prostitute to survive.
“I now have a great relationship with my ex-wife, but my one regret is that she suffered by having to bring up two children alone and I sabotaged three lives,” Ms Pankhurst said.
“That wasn’t my intention – I had to be honest with myself.
“The family law court was so archaic in those days that I was not allowed to touch or talk to my children because they would ‘catch what I had’.
“In the process of writing the book, I found out my children were looking for me – my younger son invited me over for Father’s Day on Sunday.”
Sandra was one of the first people in Australia to undergo a full gender reassignment and for several years she led a life fueled by drugs and alcohol.
“You lose all your friends, change your identity and there is no picket fence and happy family at the end – you’re the same person in a more comfortable body,” she said of the transition.
“There is a lot more understanding and acceptance now and I’m glad for that.”
After she was brutally attacked and raped, Sandra forged an entirely different career path and today she is the director of Specialised Trauma Cleaning Services.
“We clean up after suicides, murders, squalor in the homes of hoarders and abandoned meth labs,” Ms Pankhurst explained.
“My business has been built on care, compassion and dignity and I don’t see myself as a trauma cleaner – I see myself as a psychiatrist.
“All of my clients have had a traumatic experience and I employ people who have issues of their own – that’s why they are so fantastic at what they do.”
Ms Pankhurst revealed her extraordinary life story could soon be told via the small screen.
“One of the television producers who has worked on Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead has optioned the rights to a Netflix series,” she said.
“Maybe I will see bread and butter for it eventually.”
