Oakbank racing legend John Glatz conscious and speaking after horrific bushfire almost took his life
Finally some good news – Oakbank racing legend John Glatz is on the long road to recovery and has spoken with his family for the first time about the horrific fire that took his house and almost his life.
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Former Oakbank racing club chairman John Glatz is conscious and off the critical list at the Royal Adelaide Hospital where he is being treated for extensive burns suffered during the Cudlee Creek bush fire.
The 73-year-old, who was in an induced coma for two weeks, has been transferred from intensive care at the RAH burns unit.
The Oakbank chairman for more than 25 years, before stepping down in 2016, has had a difficult first conversation with his wife Merri (Meredith).
Their Woodside house and all the family belongings were destroyed in the fire that tore through the Adelaide Hills on Friday, December 20.
The couple’s daughter Lucy Brooks, whose own Hills property was affected by the fires, said her father was aware of the destruction and wanted to know the condition of his livestock.
“The brain does what it can to protect itself but dad asked mum if she was staying with me which told her he knew the house was gone,” she said.
“He asked after his horses and wanted to know they were safe and being cared for.”
Mrs Brooks said her father was extremely fortunate to have survived the inferno.
“The doctors are amazed he’s survived,” she said.
“They said a man of his age wouldn’t normally have coped but dad’s fit and tough mentally and physically and that’s what got him through.
“But we all face a very long road ahead.”
Mr Glatz has undergone several operations and surgical skin grafts and faces several more.
He was found in his tractor by a police officer not long after the raging fire had passed through.
He suffered burns to 60 per cent of his body during the blaze that also claimed the home of former jockey and fellow horse trainer, Mark Faust, on the large farm holding.
Renowned for his passion for jumps racing Mr Glatz, who has had a trainer’s licence for several decades, received an OAM in the Queen’s Birthday honours earlier in 2016.
More than 60 friends and wellwishers attended the Glatz and Brooks’ farms last week to help strip fencing destroyed by the fires from more than 200 acres of land.
