“ I was in year 9 in Stanthorpe which is where I was born and I had an abusive mother and stepfather so I ran away seven times. I hitch-hiked half way across Australia to escape, Sydney was one of them, 1200 kms round trip from Stanthorpe. Nobody was listening, the police weren’t listening. I ran away over and over and over again. Each time I’d get found and brought back to my family. Eventually I ran away to Ballina and I attempted suicide. The police found me in a park in a routine check and took me to Ballina Hospital where DOCS got involved and finally listened. I was put in foster care with a lovely lesbian family in Mullumbimby and did 2 years of school there.
I was bullied as a kid and funnily enough I was bullied more in Mullumbimby than I was in Stanthorpe which really shocked me. I thought the hippie vibe in Mullum would be really cool but it wasn’t but in Stanthorpe I had a few psychopathic bullies that went out of their way to make my life hell but once again it adds character I guess at the very least.
I was 15 when I performed my first Drag performance in a school play. Further on I got more into Drag. I did Drag at home and learnt makeup and dressed up, got into sewing and wanted to sew all my own costumes. I wasn’t very good at it then though and my second ever show was for a Fresh Fruits Youth party that was on at the show grounds just before New Years and I did 2 songs there. That got me into the community here in Lismore. I moved here when I was 16 and rented my own place and became independent from DOCS and got really into drag and slowly started getting booked for shows.
I did 2 years of the costume design course at Wollongbar Tafe and learned the basics. I failed that course both years because I didn’t like it. I then met Maude Boate the second year, he took the Millinery and accessory section of the course so I got to meet Maude. A year or two later Maude took me under his wing and started personally helping me with costuming. I would get a design in my mind and go to Maudes house, get the fabric and then make it up and leave with a new costume. I make my own hats and head pieces as well, I make my own gowns. I do my own make-up, I do my own nails. The whole lot is me. When I step out on stage I guess that’s the difference between me and most performers.
I came up with the name sitting on a bus. Saphira comes from a book called ‘Aragon’ and Saphira was the purple dragon. I went through a few names but that one just stuck. It looks good in writing and that name doesn’t define me to a style of Drag but with Showgirl and Burlesque the name Saphira Von Wilde really works.
I have contact with my real father whom I never knew as a kid but DOCS were really adamant that I meet him so I met him when I was 16. I remembered him though he wasn’t in our lives which wasn’t his fault. He’s really lovely and lives in Tenterfield. We have a good relationship now which is fantastic. I have a younger brother and sister that escaped the abuse. At least I hope so! but I survived, a success story. I had to! I need something to wake up for every morning. Attempting suicide really opens your eyes up that it can get better, if you make it through that hardest time you know, I’m very happy to be here and I really enjoy life. It’s treating me very well and I’m doing what I feel I should be doing which is performing and entertaining other people.
Lismore has really been behind me all the way. the sense of community here is very strong. 99% of my drag career has been in Lismore and it’s been very helpful. There are wonderful people in this town and I can’t imagine living anywhere else to be honest. I really like this area, we’re close to waterfalls, it’s very green, it’s kind of like a city but not overwhelming, it’s supportive and affordable. I can afford to live here comfortably. I plan to be here for a long time. I would love to travel and take my show around Australia and then the world but I think I’ll always come back to Lismore as my base because I really like it here.”
When I was seventeen I had a shop in Star Court arcade called ‘Von Wilde’ with womens clothing, jewellery, makeup etc. I had it for a year. I learnt a lot and I’d like to have another shop and do it properly. I missed a lot and nobody really helped me, things like book keeping, it was a mess but I had fun and it was mine. I’ve done a lot for my age (20) I guess. Last year I did 56 performances which paid half my rent for the year.
I don’t want to be rich, I just want to be comfortable. I’m so glad that I lived to tell the tale and it just keeps getting better and better.
You know some of us get overwhelmed and at the time you can’t see the other side but thank God I survived to see it.”
13 11 14 – www.lifeline.org.au – A crisis support and suicide prevention service for … 1300 78 9978 – www.mensline.org.au