Tears for victims as Samoa tsunami tragedy hits home

JOHN and Maree Blacker, horse trainers from Longford, Tasmania, had been married more than 20 years and were celebrating her 50th birthday in Samoa when she was swept from his arms to her death.

JOHN and Maree Blacker, horse trainers from Longford, Tasmania, had been married more than 20 years and were celebrating her 50th birthday in Samoa when she was swept from his arms to her death.

Vivien Hodgins, a teacher at Mt Clear College in Ballarat, Victoria, was near the end of a trip of a lifetime to the island paradise of Lalomanu when she, too, was caught in yesterday's maelstrom and killed.

A six-year-old girl, not yet named, last night was the third Australian known to have died in Samoa after an earthquake triggered a tsunami.

Seven other Australians, including John Blacker, were in hospital. Two more were missing last night.

Ms Hodgins's daughter Stephanie received a text message from her mother at 4.04am (AEST) yesterday, which was about whenthe tsunami hit, but "after that, nothing".

After several anxious hours, she posted a message on the social networking site, Twitter, asking anybody who had heard from her mother to get in touch.

She later told a Melbourne radio station she was desperate for news, since the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade had not been able to provide her with any information.

But at 7pm last night, the family was told Ms Hodgins had died.

Her partner of 35 years, Rod May, said the friend Ms Hodgins was travelling with at the time, Claire Rowlands, had survived and was in hospital.

He said Ms Hodgins was a wonderful woman who would be sorely missed by her family, friends and students.

"She was a mother, wife and loved by her all friends," Mr May said. "She had a great number of students who thought she was wonderful."

He said his partner had taught media at Mt Clear College for more than 30 years and they had two daughters together. She was to have flown home today.

The death of Mrs Blacker devastated her family, and the close-knit horse racing community of Tasmania, where the Blackers are as close to racing royalty as possible on the island.

John Blacker's father, George, was last year inducted into the Tasmanian Racing Hall of Fame, alongside his most successful horse, St Andrews. He has won two Hobart Cups and four Launceston Cups, the Tasmanian Derby and the Tasmanian Oaks, and he has five times produced the Tasmanian horse of the year.

John's brother, Troy, is likewise a successful trainer and breeder, as is his sister, Kelly.

Maree, who grew up on the Gold Coast, and whose first marriage was to a jockey, was described as a devoted mother, a remarkable horsewoman and a friendly member of the Longford community. Their daughter, Laura, is a rider and a registered stablehand.

Laura wasn't with her parents when the tsunami swept over Samoa; she had stayed behind, in Tasmania, with John's parents, her grandparents, on their property at Longford.

The trip was a special event for the couple. Ms Blacker turned 50 last Wednesday and, being a Queensland girl by birth, wanted to celebrate by basking in the sun, in some kind of paradise. Her husband, John, 46, was pleased to accompany her. Ms Blacker's brother-in-law, Troy Blacker, said: "It's devastating.

"It was her 50th birthday just a few days ago. We can't make sense of it, other than it's true, it's happened."

Family friend Baden Tuson said: "I don't know whether they saw the tsunami coming or what it was, but they were in each other's arms and Maree got swept away."

Friend Lynda Hay said of Ms Blacker: "She told me she was going to have nine days in Samoa. She loved to visit places like that; she loved the sun.

"She really did everything very well. She was well known in the community, and well liked. It's just awful, what's happened. I know she was so excited about this dream, this adventure."

Besides the horses, Ms Blacker had a part-time job at the local BWS, a liquor outlet owned by Woolworths. Staff there said they could not comment without permission from head office.

Gary Lottering, chief executive of the Tasmanian Racing Board extended condolences on behalf of the racing community.

"We're obviously very saddened. John Blacker is a leading trainer, and a high-profile trainer in Tasmania," he said. "The Tasmanian racing industry extends condolences to him and his family at a really sad time."

He said the Blacker family was synonymous with racing.

Ms Blacker's family is based on the Gold Coast, where she learned to ride, and where she first worked in the stables.

Mr Tuson said: "You don't think of it happening to a friend when they're just away on holidays ... you just don't think it happens. They live just down the road from us, we've been friends for 20 years."