TV director John Clabburn dies after injuring himself on cordless saw

Well known first assistant director John Clabburn has died after a gardening accident at his Artarmon home.

Devoted wife and mother Melissa Clabburn was thrilled to have her first assistant director husband home for a week at Easter to help in the garden and finish up some DIY jobs.

The couple had discussed having an early supper of salmon as she cleared the branches of the 10ft tall conifer hedge John Clabburn, 52, was trimming in their backyard garden at Artarmon, on Sydney’s north shore.

Minutes later Mr Clabburn cut his arm on a cordless gardening saw causing him to topple off his ladder and bleed to death.

The tragic accident brought a tragic end to a 27-year-love affair with his wife which began on the set of TV series Heartland featuring Cate Blanchett and Ernie Dingo.

Much loved first assistant director John Clabburn, affectionately known as JC, died after a gardening accident.

“I just can’t believe he’s gone, I knew it was bad but I expected him to pull through,” stills photographer Mrs Clabburn said through tears.

“I heard a branch break, I was in the kitchen and felt something was wrong, and called out to check he was all right.

“All he said was ‘call an ambulance now’, John was unflappable and knew how much I hated blood, I can’t handle the sight of it, he kept it together for me but I know he would have been in incredible pain.

John Clabburn’s wife Melissa with their two sons, Lewis and Josh. Picture: David Swift

The scene of the accident.

“When I went out to the back garden he was crawling on the ground on his stomach, there was so much blood, he was clutching his torso, I kept getting towels to stem the flow but the blood wouldn’t stop.”

Emergency services were called to the family home just after 5pm on Tuesday to reports a man was suffering a severe laceration to his arm.

It is unclear if Mr Clabburn had suffered a heart attack causing him to injure himself with the cordless reciprocating saw he had bought that same day from Bunnings.

Paramedics were able to stabilise him before he was transported to Royal North Shore Hospital where he later died.

“One minute we were admiring how straight the hedge was looking and what a great job he had done, he was so meticulous, he had a great eye for detail, the next John was in an ambulance,” Mrs Clabburn, 56, said.

“The paramedics said he looked pink and was breathing on his own when they put him in the ambulance.

“I knew it was bad, but I expected him to pull through. I keep expecting him to appear and walk around the house in his quiet, unique, way.

“He was away for work a lot and was so happy to be at home with us. It’s a shock, it happened so quickly, it’s so surreal.”

Well known first assistant director John Clabburn whose credits include Underbelly, Heartland and Home And Away.

Mrs Clabburn met her husband in the searing red plains near the sacred rock of Mt Augustus in Western Australia when they worked together on the set of Heartland in 1994.

The attraction was instant, she said.

“We called it our lust in the dust romance in WA, it was wow at first sight,” she said.

Mr Clabburn, affectionately known as JC by his peers, built a successful career in film, as a first assistant director overseeing film projects comedy drama Operation Buffalo, Love Child, Underbelly, The Wiggles, Survivor and Home And Away but cherished moments at home with his wife and sons Josh, 23, and Lewis, 21, after long stints away filming.

“The whole thing is so mundane and crazy, it happened within an hour, everyone loved JC,” Mrs Clabburn said.

“He was always fixing up my messy hair, he was so chilled yet with a very black sense of humour. I can‘t believe John’s actually not coming home.”

Originally published as TV director John Clabburn dies after injuring himself on cordless saw