By Renae Smyth
Returning to Kangaroo Island for the holidays, Georgie found her childhood community scorched and suffering.
Starting on December 20, the deadly bushfires have incinerated the livelihoods of farmers and brought local businesses to their knees, scarring the island’s familiar character and country charm.
“I love going home, but it was very emotional – you could just feel that everyone was down,” Georgie said.
The Kingscote and Penneshaw townships were places of refuge for most, as the deadly flames took hold of the west side of the island and the picturesque Flinders Chase National Park.
The Horjus family home in the central suburb of Parndana was spared, but unpredictable winds threatened the area, forcing the teenager and her family to evacuate.
“We left early, but my friends were sending photos of the black sky during the day which was very frightening,” Georgie said.
The island was blanketed in smoke that choked the small town for weeks, but as it lifted, the real scale of the devastation began to reveal itself to the 5,000 locals.
With more than half of the 160km island burnt, the young netballer is doing all that she can to help the community rebuild.
“I have friends who have lost everything, so it’s been incredibly difficult for them,” Georgie said.
“I’ve been the extra set of hands whenever I can – grabbing water, food and anything else they might need.”
Her willingness to get stuck in and help is a characteristic that comes naturally having spent her life looking up to her fire-fighting dad.
“I’m super proud of my Dad. He’s been a volunteer fire fighter for around 40 years, like many of our small community are.”
As much as she admires father Robert for being out on the front line as Parndana’s CFS Captain, she admits at times it can be very scary.
“His bravery and commitment to his work is incredible - he works a full day, and then an all-night on the truck,” Georgie said.
While the family home survived, a place where Georgie played many games of netball as part of the Island’s competition was devastated.
The clubhouse of the local Western Districts Netball Club was lost in the blaze, taking with it years of precious memorabilia and history.
First built in 1964 as a place for netball, tennis, softball and cricket, the Western Districts Netball Club, had become a regular meeting place for the community every Saturday morning.
Despite this loss, it’s the resilience and perseverance of the tight-knit communities that truly shines.
“It’s incredibly heart-warming to see the netball family really coming together to do all they can,” Georgie said.
“Everyone that you see at sport on a weekend is out there on the fire ground or helping out in some way.”
Only recently graduating from Immanuel College, the teenager made the move to Adelaide with her mum in 2018 to pursue a professional netball career.
The move proved fruitful after she was selected as an Adelaide Thunderbirds pathway athlete and later made her debut in the inaugural Suncorp Super Netball pre-season tournament in 2019.
Her strong performance caught the attention of selectors and she was recently named in the initial Netball World Youth Cup potentially bound for Fiji in 2021.
Georgie will take part in a Bushfire Relief Fundraiser match on Saturday 22 February at Priceline Stadium where the Adelaide Thunderbirds will take on the Deakin University Australian Netball League’s Southern Force side.
