Photo credit: Angela Joy, Country Fire Authority Facebook Page
Angela Joy is a mother of four under the age of ten, and is also a member of the Tallygaroopna fire station in northern Victoria in Australia. She also happens to be nursing firefighter, and her husband took a beautiful photo of her nursing their youngest baby while at a community opening of a nearby station in late 2014.
Angela Joy is seen in the picture nursing her daughter while posing for the camera fully clad in her firefighter gear, headgear and all. The adorable baby in the photo named Verity, who is older now, is happily feeding on precious breast milk in the background.
The photo, which was uploaded on January 24, has received over 38,000 likes and 4,000 shares on Facebook. The Guardian, Huffington Post, Yahoo Parenting, and other media have all featured it. The emergency services organization where Joy volunteers, the Country Fire Authority (CFA) in Australia, requested images of Australia from its members.
Right after Joy's submission of her nursing her little one, CFA shared it on their Facebook page, referring to Joy as "One of the many faces of CFA in 2016." Joy resides in Victoria. Joy's photo is "a great example of the diversity of our organisation," said Lucinda Nolan, Chief Executive Officer of Country Fire Authority.
Public breastfeeding in Australia is still a touchy subject just as it is in the United States and elsewhere, but Ms Nolan said the support for Joy and the photo in general has been absolutely positive.
Joy was quoted in Guardian Australia stating, “It was really about showing the diversity in the CFA – that mothers can be firefighters.”
The post has received more than 35,000 likes and has more than 3,300 shares.
