Peter’s journey: North‑East to the Netherlands
• Bridport-raised Peter Marshall now lives in the Netherlands with his family and works for Hospitainer.
By Daisy Baker
September 26, 2018
It’s been 27 years since Peter Marshall left the North-East to join the Army, where he was posted throughout Australia and made a career as a helicopter medic.
Today, Bridport-raised Peter Marshall lives in the Netherlands with his wife and two children, working as a research and development specialist for innovative medical initiative, Hospitainer.
The collective builds and transports mobile hospitals, which help facilitate medical care across four continents, from inside shipping containers.
The mobile hospitals can be deployed to disaster or conflict-stricken areas with limited medical access, or to developing countries as a semi-permanent hospital.
The containers are fitted with generators and water-purifying units, meaning they can facilitate both minor and major surgeries in areas with limited resources.
Mr Marshall said the desire to help others has been a driving force throughout his life and career.
“I have a natural born instinct to help people wherever and whenever I can,” he said.
“It's has been a constant factor throughout my life, career and in my current role.
“I can make a difference to millions of people when they need it the most and it's fulfilling to know that something you have worked on, helped develop and continue to improve upon is being utilised in countries where health care is not a given, it’s a luxury.”
Hospitainer also manufactures mobile maternity units, known as ‘maternitainers’, which are used to deliver obstetric care and sexual health services.
Mr Marshall said there are several things he misses about the North-East: the sky on a cold, clear winter’s night, the scallops which he says are the ‘best in the world’, and the fact that people remember your name even when you haven’t been home in years.
Not to mention the ‘I don’t know you, but hi there’ wave exchanged between drivers.
When asked where he sees himself in five years, he offered the following advice:
“Wherever I am, that's where I'll be... don't limit yourself by defining where you will be, or you may never realise where you can go,” he said.
“Never bend your head, always hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye!”
• A mobile surgical unit made by Hospitainer.