Jack Wilson’s inspiring reaction to Cudlee Creek bushfire family disaster | Jess Adamson
Jack Wilson and his family’s lives were altered forever amid the flames of the 2019 disaster, but his reaction to it has changed the fate of millions more, writes Jess Adamson.
Opinion
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Jack Wilson woke up in Port Lincoln the day the Cudlee Creek bushfire destroyed his family’s home.
The then 21-year-old could see there was trouble brewing. CFS alerts were coming in thick and fast on his phone.
He called home but no one was answering. So the young marine biologist jumped on a plane, arriving back in Adelaide less than an hour later.
“We essentially just drove straight into the fire and by the time we drove past our place at Lobethal it had already gone,” Jack says.
“We just kept driving, checking on another firefighter’s place down the road.”
The monster Adelaide Hills blaze, in November 2019, destroyed 87 homes, claimed the life of a Charleston man and injured more than 60 firefighters.
Jack hadn’t seen his younger brother Harry for months but ran into him on the fireground. It was an emotional moment, given what they’d lost.
For a month, the Wilson brothers and hundreds of others fought flare ups and breakouts, tended to injured stock and wildlife and began the massive clean-up.
“I think we learnt a lot about ourselves in those few weeks because it sort of made us grow up in an instant,” Jack says.
“It was tragic for everyone to be honest. Mum and Dad worked so hard to get that place to where it was. It’s a topic we didn’t talk about for a long time.
“It honestly felt like a bad dream you couldn’t wake up from, for at least a few weeks.”
But from the ashes has come the most extraordinary and heartwarming story.
The fire, and the loss of a close friend and mentor in 2021, left Jack searching for a purpose.
That began with the creation of Willow and Goose, a wine brand and barn, built where the Wilsons’ home once stood.
“A bunch of mates and community members came together and we built a new shed on the property where the house was,” Jack says.
“We called our first pinot ‘Home’ in memory of the home.”
Fast forward four years and the label has a big following, along with a national contract with airline Emirates.
Its growth is allowing Jack to focus on one of the most audacious but inspiring projects I’ve ever heard of.
The now 26-year-old has founded opblue, a global charity providing clean water, education and medical supplies to impoverished communities in Kenya.
So far, he and a growing team here and in Africa have provided filtered water for more than a million people. They are overseeing 2000 active water projects.
opblue provides simple filtration, storage and water distribution systems for communities, refugee camps, slums, hospitals and schools throughout Kenya.
Why? Because clean water is life, yet 770 million people globally don’t have access to it.
Here, we turn on a tap, run the shower, fill our swimming pools and flush our loos without even thinking about it.
In Africa, women and children walk for hours to collect water that’s contaminated with disease, cholera and other micro bacteria.
Waterborne disease rates directly affect school attendance rates. And without clean, easily accessible water, entire families and communities become locked in the cycle of poverty for generations.
So why would a young Adelaide Hills man take on something as massive as this?
“All these projects were founded after the fire,” Jack says.
“For a big period there I needed to keep my mind busy. The charity project kept me very busy and kept my mind off the reality of how terrible the situation was here.”
It’s also because he spent 18 months in the navy where he learnt there are solutions even to the world’s biggest problems. And because he can’t look away from the suffering after visiting Kenya for the first time in 2017 with a mate.
“It’s a different world over there,” Jack says.
“We’re working with communities that have never seen clean water before. They’re drinking surface water from dams on the Somalian border. Their water sources are full of disease.
“Death from waterborne disease is a solvable problem. All we need is funding really to help mitigate it.
“It’s incredible to see a community before and after we’ve been there. We’ve seen a huge increase in school attendance rates which means parents can go to work too.
“It’s nice to see it actually changing people’s lives, which is why we do it.”
The opblue team is now procuring medical supplies no longer needed by SA Health. They’ve almost filled a shipping container with infant resuscitation units, ECG machines, syringes, surgical and maternity equipment.
In the next few months it’s destined for the Marsabit County Hospital in northern Kenya.
Jack’s recently returned from five weeks in Kenya after the country’s devastating floods.
“We were dealing with displaced people, providing water to refugee camps and in all the schools that were affected,” he says.
“There’s no real emergency response or government help for communities. Usually we work on 12 community projects a year but within the first three weeks of the floods we rolled out 55 projects.
“We work with locals, for locals. Being over there concreted the fact that we’re making a proper difference.”
I’m astounded by this young man’s bold mission. Jack is humble, mature beyond his years and grateful for the growing support his project is gathering.
A number of local and national businesses are behind opblue. The charity also partners with larger foundations, allowing them to tap into their networks overseas.
The team are laser-focused on tracking results. Data is meticulously collected. Every project is mapped and reviewed monthly to ensure every cent makes a difference.
There are unique challenges. Water tanks are knocked over by thirsty elephants and opblue staff are at risk of extreme violence, especially close to the Somalian border.
Technology allows Jack to track the team on his phone, ensuring he knows exactly where they are if things go wrong. But it causes many sleepless nights.
It’s often overwhelming but despite the hardship, Jack sees remarkable resilience through the smiles of the men, women and children his team is helping.
He’s excited about the next few years which he knows will be “pretty big”.
“I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself if I walked away from it, because I know the difference we make,” he says.
“It feels like a selfish decision to leave the charity behind to pursue something for myself.
“I’m so proud of the team and what they’re doing. It’s definitely not just a one-man show – there’s an incredible team and I just try to steer it.”
It’s amazing to think that this young man’s resolve, to help perfect strangers on the other side of the world, came from his own loss. The Cudlee Creek bushfire changed Jack Wilson’s perspective on life forever.
When everything around him seemed broken, he began to rewrite the story for millions of people in a less privileged country, one drop of water at a time.
I can’t wait to see what the next chapter holds for this outstanding South Australian.
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