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[Amelia Jane]

GARY Dempsey, a self-confessed "tough old prick," had to fight back tears watching the news on Monday night. His first extended look at footage from Victoria's bleeding heart rekindled memories of his taste of hell 40 years earlier.

Dempsey almost lost his life in the Lara bushfires of 1969, spending seven weeks in hospital.

At 20 and after just two seasons with Footscray, he was told he would never play football again.

He came back to take his total to 329 games with the Bulldogs and North Melbourne, winning the Brownlow Medal in 1975.

"I'm a tough old prick, but I've got to admit I had trouble watching the news the other night with my wife, Leni," he told the Herald Sun yesterday.

"As you get older, you get more emotional. I couldn't help thinking of my father (Jerry) and mother (Nellie).

Related LinksBushfire tragedy: Footy rallies for victims
"They lost nearly everything and didn't know whether their son was going to live or die for a while.

"When I saw pictures of those burnt-out properties, it took me back to the family farm (at Truganina, near Laverton).

"We lost a couple of houses, hay sheds, trucks and tractors, machinery, virtually the lot.

"We had an old Federation house and when I got out of hospital, I remember the shock of seeing nothing but the brick chimneys.

"I hadn't really thought about what happened to me for a long time, but, then I saw footage of the flames, and I remember one of the people talking about 'the roar'.

"I remembered the roar when the wind changed and blew the fire back on me. Flames 4m high.

"The grass was really high in the paddock I was in, but I thought I was safe because the wind was blowing the other way, then the wind changed.

"I just ran. S--t I ran. I dived through barbed wire fences and I ran (about 300m) to this tennis court at a property owned by a guy called Don Meyers.

"I remember just sitting in the middle of this en-tout-cas tennis court and then watching the fence start to burn. I thought I was gone. The tennis court saved me.

"I was burnt by the radiation, which actually burns your nerve endings, so I didn't really feel any pain.

"I'd been working in a paddock in a pair of footy shorts, moving equipment and rescuing a stray calf.

"I remember arriving at the neighbour's place and I thought he was going to faint when he saw me."

Dempsey had suffered burns to 50 per cent of his body and was in a critical condition for several days.

"Because I was running away from the flames, I only got burnt on the back, but it was from the top to the bottom.

"Not a good way to get a suntan, I can tell you.

"About an hour after I reached the neighbour's place, Dad arrived and he thought I was dead.

"They said my fitness saved me."

In a bizarre twist, Dempsey was back at Truganina last Saturday for a joint clearance sale with a neighbour.

"I couldn't believe the day when I got out there.

"It wasn't as hot in '69 but the winds were as bad. It doesn't really matter once you get over 35 degrees when the winds are like they were.

"It was that word 'roar' which stirred the memories Monday night.

"There's no escape in a fire like that.

"You've got a chance in floods. When you've got 4m of flame coming at you, if it gets you, you're gone.

"I kept in front of the flames, but the radiated heat just absolutely frizzled my back, the backs of my legs, my calves, the backs of my arms."

Dempsey said those who escaped death still suffered a massive feeling of loss (of family, friends and property).

"I've done all right in life, I'll be making a reasonably substantial donation on behalf of the family."

He said the problem for most survivors would be "picking up the pieces".

"To see everything gone, it's a desolate feeling, a feeling you just can't believe.

"You go back and you just see brick chimneys.

"I think it will take years for some people to get over it. Some people, like my dad, just get up and go; some people will never recover."

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That was such a sad story about Gary Dempsey and the 1969 Lara bushfires. He made a difference- a great story of coming back from a personal disaster

[Caveman]

GARY Dempsey, a self-confessed "tough old prick," had to fight back tears watching the news on Monday night. His first extended look at footage from Victoria's bleeding heart rekindled memories of his taste of hell 40 years earlier.

Dempsey almost lost his life in the Lara bushfires of 1969, spending seven weeks in hospital.

At 20 and after just two seasons with Footscray, he was told he would never play football again.

He came back to take his total to 329 games with the Bulldogs and North Melbourne, winning the Brownlow Medal in 1975.

"I'm a tough old prick, but I've got to admit I had trouble watching the news the other night with my wife, Leni," he told the Herald Sun yesterday.

"As you get older, you get more emotional. I couldn't help thinking of my father (Jerry) and mother (Nellie).

Related LinksBushfire tragedy: Footy rallies for victims
"They lost nearly everything and didn't know whether their son was going to live or die for a while.

"When I saw pictures of those burnt-out properties, it took me back to the family farm (at Truganina, near Laverton).

"We lost a couple of houses, hay sheds, trucks and tractors, machinery, virtually the lot.

"We had an old Federation house and when I got out of hospital, I remember the shock of seeing nothing but the brick chimneys.

"I hadn't really thought about what happened to me for a long time, but, then I saw footage of the flames, and I remember one of the people talking about 'the roar'.

"I remembered the roar when the wind changed and blew the fire back on me. Flames 4m high.

"The grass was really high in the paddock I was in, but I thought I was safe because the wind was blowing the other way, then the wind changed.

"I just ran. S--t I ran. I dived through barbed wire fences and I ran (about 300m) to this tennis court at a property owned by a guy called Don Meyers.

"I remember just sitting in the middle of this en-tout-cas tennis court and then watching the fence start to burn. I thought I was gone. The tennis court saved me.

"I was burnt by the radiation, which actually burns your nerve endings, so I didn't really feel any pain.

"I'd been working in a paddock in a pair of footy shorts, moving equipment and rescuing a stray calf.

"I remember arriving at the neighbour's place and I thought he was going to faint when he saw me."

Dempsey had suffered burns to 50 per cent of his body and was in a critical condition for several days.

"Because I was running away from the flames, I only got burnt on the back, but it was from the top to the bottom.

"Not a good way to get a suntan, I can tell you.

"About an hour after I reached the neighbour's place, Dad arrived and he thought I was dead.

"They said my fitness saved me."

In a bizarre twist, Dempsey was back at Truganina last Saturday for a joint clearance sale with a neighbour.

"I couldn't believe the day when I got out there.

"It wasn't as hot in '69 but the winds were as bad. It doesn't really matter once you get over 35 degrees when the winds are like they were.

"It was that word 'roar' which stirred the memories Monday night.

"There's no escape in a fire like that.

"You've got a chance in floods. When you've got 4m of flame coming at you, if it gets you, you're gone.

"I kept in front of the flames, but the radiated heat just absolutely frizzled my back, the backs of my legs, my calves, the backs of my arms."

Dempsey said those who escaped death still suffered a massive feeling of loss (of family, friends and property).

"I've done all right in life, I'll be making a reasonably substantial donation on behalf of the family."

He said the problem for most survivors would be "picking up the pieces".

"To see everything gone, it's a desolate feeling, a feeling you just can't believe.

"You go back and you just see brick chimneys.

"I think it will take years for some people to get over it. Some people, like my dad, just get up and go; some people will never recover."

Click here to find out how you can help.



That was such a sad story about Gary Dempsey and the 1969 Lara bushfires. He made a difference- a great story of coming back from a personal disaster

Gary Dempsey and Brad Hardie- two Footscray Brownlow Medallists that came back from being badly burnt to win the games highest individual award- 10 years apart.