Tom’s ton of toil and tragedy

Considering the overwhelming amount of trauma he’s dealt with in his life, Tom Cooper has an amazingly positive attitude.

Tom celebrated his 100th birthday this week and his simple message for a long life was to keep active. Tom joined the Grampians Health care community at MacPherson Smith Residential Care last year after his son Alan convinced him it was time to let others look after him.

Tom was born in Goroke on April 21, 1926 and grew up with his family on a soldier’s settlement block at Peronne. He attended Peronne school and his first job was on a farm at Oozenkadnook where he worked hard, shearing sheep and clearing land for tillage.

In the summer of 1952 when Tom was 25, he was driving his sister through Goroke when a car came out of a side street and collided with him. Tom was going less than 20 miles an hour when the accident happened but his car flipped on to the driver’s side and skidded along the bitumen road.

Unfortunately for Tom, he had his arm resting out the window and it was caught between the road and the hood. The accident ripped the skin from his right hand and arm and shattered two knuckles.

The doctor at the Goroke Hospital told Tom his hand would have to be cut off at the wrist but he didn’t have the right equipment to perform the amputation, so Tom was taken to Wimmera Base Hospital at Horsham.

Tom was very thankful that the medical team there were able to save his hand after spending two hours removing bitumen fragments. During Tom’s hospital stay he was cared for by nurse Winifred Smith from Grass Flat and they quickly bonded.

The couple married a year later and not long after, Tom was well enough to return to work.

Soon after they moved to Pomonal where they bought a 60-acre hobby farm. Tom got a job with the Country Roads Board, on the road maintenance crew and in his spare time, grew potatoes, strawberries and raspberries on their farm.

The couple enjoyed life at Pomonal and had six children, three boys and three girls. A daughter Shirley died three days after birth and a son Ross was born with Down syndrome. Tom said they were told at the time Ross could live three days or three months.

“He did amazingly well Ross. I would take him cutting firewood with me and he had no fear of the saw. He died five years ago aged 52,” Tom said.

More tragedy was to engulf the Coopers. In 1967 Win’s sister was driving back from Melbourne with Tom and Win’s two young daughters Ruth and Lorraine when her car struck a bridge on the Western Highway, south of Ararat.

Both girls were killed and Tom and Win were left to grieve with their young sons. Win was pregnant with Ross at the time of the tragedy.

“That was a real kick in the guts for us,” Tom said.

“You just don’t’ get over that.”

These days Win’s health has deteriorated and she has been under the watchful care of the MacPherson Smith Residential Care team for the past six years. Dementia has prevented her from remembering Tom but he still drops in to visit her regularly.

“I was in Win’s room the other day talking to her as I often do when suddenly she just said ‘Tom!’. It just came out of nowhere.”

Tom said he was grateful for the attention both he and Win receive.

“I’ve made a lot of friends here and the girls look after me extra well. They take me out to the garden and we plant new seeds together and then I do the watering,” he said.

“I really enjoy the food here too.”

Alan still takes his dad to church every Sunday and they make regular trips to the coffee shop.

Alan said Tom had kept very active all his life and had share-farmed all over the region and into SA.

“Dad loved his golf too. He bought a cart about five years ago because it was getting tougher to walk the entire course and he only stopped playing 18 months ago,” Alan said.

MSRC acting manager Mischelle Flora said her team was delighted to be able to help Tom celebrate his extraordinary milestone.

“We celebrated the occasion with his Tom and his family, complete with cake and even a pinata,” Ms Flora said.

“Tom’s birthday is not just a celebration of years but of a life that continues to inspire both the residents and the team at MSRC.”