Peter Burgi's story
[Music begins – Peter Burgi standing with his wife Lorraine in their paddock in front of an open gate talking about his accident.]
Peter: This was basically the last thing I remember is coming through this gate and heading over to the cows that were over by those trees.
[Scene moves to close up shot of Lorraine talking to Peter.]
Lorraine: You must have shut it?
[Scene moves back to wide shot of Peter and Lorraine talking and pointing up the hill.]
Peter: I shut it yeah.
Lorraine: You shut it.
Peter: I came through it yeah.
Lorraine: Yes, ok then. Because I was up there.
Peter: That’s right, yeah.
Lorraine: I was up and over the hill there.
[Scene changes to a shot of Peter sitting down in a chair outside with his property in the background behind him.]
Peter: I’m Peter Burgi. I’m 76 years old.
Text on screen: Peter Burgi Gruyere farmer
[Scene changes to Peter driving his tractor delivering a bale of hay into a field of cows]
Peter: Been a farmer all my life both in Wandin and in Gruyere.
[Scene change to a close up of cows eating hay.]
Peter: We’re farming Angus cows, crossing them with a Charolais bull.
[Scene change to a mid-shot of Peter shutting the gate on his property.]
Peter: And unfortunately a few of them came through the gate.
[Scene changes to a close-up of Peter seated outside.]
Peter: I went and got the quad bike and came through the gate into that paddock.
It tipped me off.
[Scene changes to Peter and Lorraine standing in their paddock.]
Lorraine: The motor stopped and the dust rose. It went like that, whirligig. I knew exactly what had happened but I didn’t know how bad it was going to be. And I came up the hill, my legs wouldn’t carry me, and I got up the hill and found the bike on top of him. It was everyone’s nightmare. So then I just started to call for help and the neighbours came. So we were really, really lucky.
[Scene changes to a close up of Peter and Lorraine looking at some photographs of Peter’s injury.]
Lorraine: Probably 24 hours I think afterwards.
Peter: It was not nice.
Lorraine: No.
Peter: I had nine broken ribs
[Scene change to close up of Peter sitting down outside.]
Peter: …two of them severe, a lacerated arm, acquired brain injury.
[Scene change to Lorraine talking to Peter in the paddock.]
Lorraine: When the helicopter came, you know it was just a light in the sky, it was unbelievable. It could have been a lot worse.
Peter: Yes
Lorraine: And we were really lucky.
[Scene change to a wide shot of Peter and Lorraine walking away holding hands.]
Peter: Five days in intensive care, in the Alfred.
[Scene change to an overhead shot of Peter driving the side-by-side vehicle on his property.]
Peter: Because of the Victorian Government safety rebate I was able to use that to buy a side-by-side.
[Scene change to close up of Peter sitting in a chair outside.]
Peter: I was pleasantly surprised how the side-by-side fitted into what I was doing.
[Scene change to a close front-on shot of Peter driving the side-by-side.]
Peter: It’s got seat belts on it, it’s got mesh doors on it, a roof over you and a nice comfortable seat.
[Scene change to Peter sitting in chair.]
Peter: You don’t have to throw your leg over the fuel tank to get on and off it and as you get older that’s a bonus too.
[Scene change to a side shot of Peter attending to a fence and gate on his property.]
Peter: There’s many days where I probably won’t see anyone.
[Scene change to Peter and Lorraine walking together in their paddock.]
Peter: If my wife hadn’t been there, it would have been probably an hour or two until they found me underneath the bike.
[Scene change to a dog running in a wide paddock with David walking behind.]
Peter: After the accident there’s things that have got to change.
[Scene change to David driving his tractor with the hay bale on the back.]
Peter: And that’s when I’ve employed a mechanic to come in and keep check on everything. You’ve got to be aware of your surrounds and keep check on everything.
[Scene change to Peter standing at his fence looking out to the left.]
Peter: You’ve got to be aware of your surrounds and what you’re doing. A lot of us probably don’t pay enough attention to that.
[Scene change to an aerial shot of David driving his side-by-side away.]
Peter: You may do it every day but no two rides are the same.
Text on screen: No two rides are the same