Burns survivor wants to use second chance to teach others about fire safety

Australia Broadcast Center

3 days ago

It was less than week to Christmas and only two days away from finishing his barley crop harvest when farmer Tim Haslam came face-to-face with a bushfire in 2023.
Unable to escape the flames, he incurred burns to 38 per cent of his body.
Two years on from the incident, Mr Haslam realises he made critical mistakes and wants to ensure others do not follow in his footsteps.
Mr Haslam said on the day of the fire the conditions were not particularly bad, with winds around 12 kilometres per hour.
But he said everything changed in an instant.
"It was harvest and we were at the closing stages of our 10,000 acre cropping program, we probably had two days to go," he said.
"I was harvesting and had just finished a run line. I looked in the rear-view vision mirror and saw flames, so it was then that I went and got a fire unit.
"All I could see out of my windscreen was orange flames.
"I immediately turned the ute left and I then got bogged. I also realised I had a flat tyre."
Mr Haslam said it was then that he made the first of several mistakes.
"I got out of the ute and I just ran, probably four or five steps. I tripped and landed hands-first into the [burning] barley stubble," he said.
After being found by an employee, he was flown to Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth, where he spent 10 days in the Intensive Care Unit.
For seven of those days, he was in a coma.
When Mr Haslam woke, he was told he had suffered 38 per cent burns to his face, arms, legs, hands and feet.
"I was extraordinarily lucky to be in Fiona Stanley, it is by far the best burns unit in the world," he said.
"[Plastic surgeon and burns specialist] Fiona Wood has done an enormous amount of research since and prior to the Bali bombings.
"They developed spray-on skin, and on top of that, I'm also wearing compression garments that I have to wear for 24 months."
Mr Haslam said the support from his wife Sally and the wider farming community during his treatment and rehabilitation had been unwavering.
"Undoubtedly, I was given a second chance. I've had 15 surgeries, I've lost all the ends of my fingers, the corners of my mouth have also webbed together," he said.
When asked how day-to-day operations had changed for him on his farm in Popanyinning, Mr Haslam said they had changed enormously and also very little.
"I do all my farm jobs. I do them fairly slowly and it is quite painful, but is that age, arthritis or burns-related?" he said.
The farmer echoed this year's Farm Safety Week message of second chances and using them as powerful learning opportunities.
"Now while I am harvesting, I will always look at the wind direction and where it is coming from.
"On December 20, 2023, I had a pair of shorts and a short-sleeve shirt on.
"I urge people for the period of harvest just wear long pants and a long-sleeve shirt.
"I just simply reacted. What I should have done is sat there for a second and just assessed, 'What are my options?'"
Mr Haslam admitted that stepping out of his vehicle during the fire was a mistake others should learn from.
"My employee who picked me up could have quite easily run me over, but fortunately the smoke had cleared by then," he said.
The family was just two days off finishing their harvest when Mr Haslam was injured.
Already a busy time of year for other farmers trying to finish their own harvest, one of his neighbours organised a working bee to get the rest of the crop off.
"There were four or five headers, trucks. They all turned up to finish off the harvest, and drink my grog," Mr Haslam said.
"My local bowling club also turned up. They were all such incredible support. I refer to them as my bowling family.
"I had the photos of the harvest hanging in my hospital room. It was a way of keeping me connected to home."