From the monthly archives:
July 2008
is what it’s going to take before I can start living again.
Where do I start. This would have to be the most difficult blog I have ever written since the beginning of it’s existence. Firstly though, I wanted to thank each and everyone of you for the generous out pouring of condolences myself and my family have received via blog comments (both regulars and lurkers), sms messages, phone calls, flower deliveries, house visits and announcements in the Riverine Herald and the Herald Sun. I am truly overwhelmed at the magnitude of people that care for me and my family, I honestly had no idea just how many of you there were. Thank you so much.
I always have been and always will be “My Daddy’s Little Girl”. When he died part of me died along with him. As for how am I doing, I’m in a state of shock and feel completely numb. It’s all so surreal at the moment and I don’t think it will sink in until we attend the funeral next Wednesday 6th August 2008. There really aren’t words to describe this pain, it’s border line unbearable. It’s like someone has reached into your chest with their bare hand and ripped your heart out leaving this gaping hole in your chest that will never heal. I’m constantly on this emotional roller coaster ride and I never know where it’s going to take me, all I can do is hang on in hope that it’s going to be over soon. I’m just taking things one day at a time and hoping for the best. Obviously with everything that’s going on at the moment I’ve had to re-schedule my shoulder surgery, I’m now going in Wednesday 27th August 2008. I guess I’m feeling a little precious at the moment and one of the not so luckiest people in the world. I’ve certainly had better years that’s for sure.
Mum hasn’t been well this week so we’ve had to re-schedule her radiotherapy treatment. We’ve had palliative care out to the house and they’ve even had to put a butterfly clip with a line in so that I can administer her anti-nausea medication intravenously until she’s well again. Heath’s settling into his new home and job although he’s feeling a little unsettled and lost which is understandable considering the circumstances.
Well that’s about all I want to post right now. I need to go, thank you for understanding. xxx
Echuca-Moama’s water skiing fraternity is mourning the death of Echuca’s Dennis Rowbottom after a logging accident in the Millewa State Forest near Mathoura on Saturday.
Leading Senior Constable Richard Arnold of Deniliquin police said the 58-year-old man had been carrying out logging operations with another man.
Mr Rowbottom had been working on a Bell logging tractor when the accident happened about 1pm.
The second man was working on a portable sawmill a short distance away from Mr Rowbottom when the logging tractor crashed into the portable sawmill, Sen. Constable Arnold said.
“He observed the deceased was not in the cabin of the tractor and saw him laying in the track on the ground,”he said.
“The tractor had gone over the top of him.”
The second man raised the alarm with Mr Rowbottom’s defacto who was not far from where the accident happened.
The man then drove to another area in the forest to get mobile reception to call emergency services.
“Ambulance officers followed by police arrived shortly after. By the time they arrived he had passed away,” Sen. Constable Arnold said.
Forensic police from Albury, detectives from Deniliquin and members from the Volunteer Rescue Association attended the accident, which is being investigated by WorkCover.
A coronial brief is being prepared for the coroner.
A long-time competitor in ski racing, Mr Rowbottom drove the Mistress speed boat in this year’s Southern 80.
Moama Water Sports Club president Alan McDonald said Mr Rowbottom’s death was an “absolute tragedy”.
“It’s a huge loss. He was one of the legends of the sport,” he said.
He was well-known in the Echuca area for winning the 1989 and 1990 Southern 80 ski race with the Island Cooler team of Leo Welch and Jamie Oliver.
“Back in the time of Island Cooler, he had the quickest boat in Australia at the time,” Mr McDonald said.
Mr Rowbottom was diagnosed with a kidney condition in his early 20s and received his second kidney transplant in January 2007.
“To think he survived his second kidney transplant to have this happen,” Mr McDonald said.
A 58-year-old Echuca man died early Saturday after an accident in Millewa State Forest.
Sergeant Matt McCarthy of Moama police said the man was repairing a logging vehicle about 1pm Saturday when it appears to have been kicked into gear, pinning him under the wheels.
Deniliquin police detectives attended the accident and WorkCover has been advised.
A coronial investigation will be held.
Dennis Rowbottom