By ANEEKA SIMONIS
THOUGH it’s not part of his recovery treatment, a former Maryknoll CFA captain battling stage four cancer said his fellow Maryknollers help him grow stronger each day.
Brad Waterhouse, who led the local CFA for six years up until 2011, returned home earlier this month after weeks recovering in hospital from bowel cancer surgery.
“I had a third of my large intestine removed and am now getting chemo to get rid of a small tumour in my liver,” he said.
After a month in recovery, the 43-year-old father of two children aged eight and 11 returned to his home – only to be welcomed home by a crowd of loving Maryknollers who been supporting Brad and his family since his diagnosis.
“It was such a surprise. We came up the road into town and there they were in one of the tankers,” Brad recalled.
“It was very emotional to come home… I missed it when I was away.”
Brad, who has fought fires for the past 16 years, said his diagnosis came at the same time that emergency crews were appealing for members to fly across to battle the ravaging Adelaide Hills fire.
“The week I got crook was when the fires were happening in Adelaide. I would have put my name to go down there but I missed out,” he said.
The man who has so generously protected and cared for his community, particularly during the Black Saturday fires, is now being taken care of by his neighbours.
”A couple of weekends ago, around 30 people from the fire brigade came around. I had piles of logs in the yard I had collected from jobs and used to cut away at each year for fire wood.
“They all came around with chainsaws, wood splitters and cut up the whole lot. It took them about four hours and my woodshed is overflowing.
They have been amazing. My wife hasn’t had to make a meal since… people have been dropping food by every day.
“It’s a really good place and we’d like to thank everyone who has helped.”
Brad, who recently begun his first round of chemotherapy, will undergo treatment for six months to help shrink the cancerous growth in his liver before surgery.
“I’m confident. This is just the process and I will get through it. I have a lot of stuff have to cross off my list so I’m not going anywhere,” he said.
Brad’s wife Peta is the current Maryknoll CFA captain.
