In 2015 Sam Brighurst lost all his possessions when the Pinery Fire swept through the property he was living on near Hamley Bridge.
Now, in a lucky turn of events, the twenty-seven year old has been drawn as the winner of a customised VF Commodore SV6 in a raffle to support affected communities suffering as a result of the recent bushfire crisis, organised by Victoria based company, Eye Candy Motorsports, together with Australian Horizons Foundation and Flash Market.
Sam, who now lives in Lyndoch, was dumbstruck after receiving the phone call on February 9 to inform him he had won the major prize.
“It’s overwhelming,” he said.
“After not having much good luck in the last few years of my life, it all sort of got turned around in one phone call.”
The one-of-kind vehicle was delivered to Sam on Monday evening in front of a crowd of friends and family at the Lyndoch CFS, where Sam has been a volunteer for two years.
In an additional surprise, a $5,000 donation was presented to the Lyndoch CFS by Troy Williams from Eye Candy Motorsport and Matt Gollan from Flash Market, who flew in for the presentation from their respective states.
Sam was pleased to be able to share the excitement of the win and donation with his CFS colleagues, who he recently attended the Cuddlee Creek Fire with.
“It’s a really good crew of guys and girls,” Sam said of his team and the experiences they’ve shared.
“It’s scary but you know you’ve all been trained to deal with the situation, and it’s more the fact that you know no matter what happens, they’ve got your back out in the field.
“As volunteers we don’t really expect anything in return, we’re volunteers and we do what we do because we love what we do, but to get this sort of reward back from a raffle that went to a good cause is the highlight of my life.”
Sam hopes to be able to put his new car to good use.
“I definitely want to hang on to it for a long time,” he said.
“I want to use it for a good cause, do some charity cruises and get it out for what it’s designed for, to be out and be shown.”
Sam said the donation may go towards the purchase of a thermal imaging camera for the Lyndoch CFS.
