Publicity at KIHR

Time may have added a few grey hairs and a fine line or two but it has in no way dampened the get-up-and-go of Sue McCarthy. She still extols the "your health is your own business" message – perhaps a tad more marketed and polished – but as no-nonsense as ever.

For years West Australians trotted out to her McCarthy Park Health Retreat which she and her husband, Austin, set up in Gidgegannup 20 years ago. There they coaxed, cajoled or ultimately dragged clients into a strict regimen of exercise and healthy eating.

In the excesses of the 1980’s people came looking for a weekend pep-up but what the McCarthy’s delivered was a no-holds-barred lifestyle makeover instead.

Some clients dropped by the wayside but a great many stuck it out and emerged claiming they had never felt better.