Tiny miracle amid bad run
It’s been a tough few months for South Canterbury farmer Murray Linwood, who lost his home, dogs and stock to flooding and had a ute stolen, all while recovering from a stroke. But one particularly happy arrival has helped him get through.
The 59-year-old sheep and beef farmer’s bad run started in November when he suffered a stroke on the way to Timaru Hospital to visit his partner, Chelsea Linwood, who was due to give birth.
The next day, November 4, Chelsea gave birth to a baby boy.
Instead of going home with his wife and new son, Charlie, Linwood remained in hospital – and was only well enough to be released earlier this month.
In the interim, mother nature dealt him a major blow – the Rangitata River flooded his Arundel home, washed away stock and dogs and destroyed vehicles and machinery.
‘‘I just couldn’t believe it,’’ Linwood told Stuff from the Timaru house he is living in as he recovers from the stroke.
On December 13, Linwood’s father-in-law informed him of the damage to the property he had farmed for five years and the fact that six of his dogs and 57 cattle were missing.
‘‘When I heard about the floods . . . I had nightmares about what was happening to the dogs.
‘‘It’s just so heartbreaking. I had a friend looking after the place at the time. They couldn’t find the dogs.’’
Linwood said the dogs he lost were aged between eight months and three years.
They were discovered dead later, he said. ‘‘If my friend and neighbour hadn’t got there as quickly as possible, we could have lost even more dogs.’’
Linwood is still trying to work out the monetary cost of the damage, but he assumes it would be more than $100,000. The couple does not have insurance, he said.
‘‘A lot of the lost stock would have been top-dollar.’’
He says he believes Civil Defence should have announced a state of emergency sooner.
‘‘By the time it was announced, people had got to the house, it was too late, the flood had wiped out everything. They could have done more to help protect the property,’’ he said.
Linwood said water rose so high that at least five vehicles on the Arundel property he leases
were flooded, including an old Leyland Tractor.
Linwood said he was also upset to learn someone had stolen his Holden ute from the Arundel property while he was in hospital.
‘‘Just how bad can you get? They’re just scum,’’ he said.
But amid the misfortune there have been small miracles, and he credits his resilience to his wife Chelsea, 27, her extended family, and the arrival of his new son.
‘‘Charlie has been a small miracle in between everything else,’’ he said. ‘‘But it feels like I’ve got to start all over again.’’
Chelsea said it was still unknown what would happen to the property.
‘‘But I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s bulldozed. The flooding took out everything,’’ she said.
However, she was upbeat and grateful to those who had offered the family support. ‘‘We’ve had donations of parcels from Presbyterian Support Family Works, and lots of family and friends have given us baby clothes for Charlie,’’ she said.
‘‘We’ve now got so many clothes for Charlie we don’t know what to do with him now. But he’s growing so fast – he’s gone from eight pounds to 12 pounds in a matter of weeks. That’s what gives us hope, while the doctors and physios have said that Murray is making amazing progress.’’
Despite needing to use a wheelchair for now, Murray was confident he would walk again and get back to the land – it just may take some time.
‘‘I hope one day to go back to farming. It’s hard to get any job when you’re in a wheelchair.
‘‘Farming’s been my life – I don’t know anything else.’’