Ruth Hegarty won the 1998 David Unaipon Award for unpublished Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander writers with her manuscript Is That You, Ruthie? Her sequel memoir Bittersweet Journey, which recounts with humour and honesty, her life after Cherbourg Mission as a wife, a mother and an advocate for the Indigenous community, was published in 2003 by UQP. She has raised a family of eight children and lives in Brisbane, and for more than thirty years has been involved on a volunteer basis in projects for the elderly and youth. A founding member of Koobara Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Family Resource Centre, she was president of the Nalingu Respite Centre in Brisbane, and a trainer with the Home and Community Care Resource Unit. In 1998 she was awarded the Premier's Award for Queensland Seniors for outstanding service to the community.