Update 2pm
Jimmy Schick. Photo: Windsor Park Stud.
The Schick family and Windsor Park Stud have made the following statement:
“The Schick family and Windsor Park team express their sincere and heartfelt appreciation for the outpouring of love, support and concern during this most difficult of times.
In incredibly sad circumstances, the family kindly asks for privacy as they come to terms with the devastating loss of their dearly loved Jimmy.
Rodney is receiving the best possible care from the dedicated team in the Intensive Care Unit at Waikato Hospital and further updates will be shared as information becomes available. He is in a stable condition with a long recovery expected. Oli is recovering well with support from the amazing team in the children’s ward.
We appreciate everything that has been provided and sent to the family – we are well supported and catered for at this stage.
Thank you for your understanding and support.”
May 13, 10am
Some of the Cambridge volunteer fire fighters who attended two callouts at the weekend where two children died are struggling to cope, their fire chief Dennis Hunt says.
Cambridge Fire Brigade chief fire officer Dennis Hunt. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
One was admitted to Waikato Hospital early Saturday morning with exhaustion after saving a 14-year-old Hamilton girl from a house fire in Brennan Place. The girl, who police had yet to identify when The News went to press, died in hospital on Sunday.
“Our guys worked hard that night to get her out of the house,” said Hunt.
And the same day the volunteer fire fighters were in French Pass Rd, Whitehall to attend an all-terrain vehicle crash where 10-year-old Jimmy Schick died, his father Rodney was critically injured and two other children sustained serious and minor injuries.
Rodney Schick
Schick, from the renowned Windsor Park Stud in Kaipaki, was in a stable condition in Waikato Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit when The News went to press.
The remoteness of the site made it difficult for fire fighters to get to the injured.
The fire fighters debriefed at both scenes and were also to have a fuller debrief at the station last night (Wednesday).
“We do keep an eye on each other,” said Hunt.
“Wellbeing is very important and if there’s anyone struggling, we can put them into help.”
A wellbeing professional from the Fire Service was to attend the debrief.
“Our guys are not immune to all this,” he said.
The house fire was the first the brigade had attended for a while. Its callouts tend to be vehicle crashes, particularly on Waikato Expressway, scrub and bush fires, medical events and false alarms.
“We just plod along doing our job.”
But they are volunteers who hold daytime jobs, and it was important to acknowledge the role employers play in letting their employees be volunteer fire fighters, he said.
The brigade recently installed a board outside the fire station with the names of businesses, companies and retailers where the fire fighters work.
“At least one of our guys had to take the day off work on Monday,” said Hunt.
Aside from the two tragic callouts, the brigade also attended a car accident, a medical event, a rubbish fire and two false alarms.
Dennis Hunt in front of the board which acknowledges employers who allow volunteer fire fighters to attend emergencies. Photo: Mary Anne Gill
