On the 21-8-10, Dr John Hill was presented with a commemorative plaque to acknowledge his 15 years of “desert doctoring”. His 1st trip to the desert as Dr John was in 1989 after being coerced to come along for a “drive out in the desert” by Ike Trelor and so it all started. This 1st race was abandoned on day 4 due to rain.
His experiences out there are many, treating everything from shards of wood under fingernails to degrees of dehydration and heat exhaustion both in riders and support teams.
In all those years there was only one major injury which resulted in the rider sustaining a fractured hip and a dislocated shoulder, necessitating his evacuation back to Dalhousie Springs, a hair raising trip in the back of an army truck. They only just made it back in time to be airlifted out by the RFDS before dark. But by far his most unusual case saw Dr John on his hands and knees in a tent, headlamp in place, performing a small surgical procedure on a riders hemorrhoids so that he could ride again the next day!!
Dr John also invented the infamous “sheep dip” following the donation of a 5kg bucket of lanolin. The recipe remains known to only a few, but as most riders would know, this balm has saved the day on may occasions.
He was the only doctor for the race until he was joined by Dr Ian Bowmaker in 1994. These two would apparently be hard telling jokes in Latin and cackling in laughter.
Dr John remains an active member of the organization, donating one of his handmade silver spoons complete with desert logo to be auctioned at the end of each race.
A quiet unassuming man, his last trip to the desert was in 2004. His years of experience and expert care have been greatly appreciated by all.
A BIG THANKYOU…you are missed out there.