Dr Jamal Rifi turns to gardening to escape pandemic’s ‘black cloud’
The work of the inspirational GP helped guide his multicultural community through the worst of COVID-19
Dr Jamal Rifi has resumed his pandemic-interrupted retirement by moving to the NSW Central Coast where he is planting trees as an antidote to the mental stresses of the past two years.
The inspirational GP said he made the change in January as he started to feel low after helping his multicultural community in Sydney navigate COVID-19.
“I moved to a very lovely community and I immersed myself doing a lot of planting of native shrubs and trees,” Dr Rifi told ABC Radio Sydney.
“I needed to dissociate myself because I felt in January of this year that I had a black cloud over my head and I needed to do something about myself and my wellbeing.”
