General News
12 November, 2021
Community rallies to support Greavesys
THE image of her husband laying in a pool of blood and unconscious is one that will long be entrenched in Cassie Greaves’ memory.
THE image of her husband laying in a pool of blood and unconscious is one that will long be entrenched in Cassie Greaves’ memory.
Jason Greaves had fallen more than three metres from the rafters of their Terang home and had landed head-first on the pavement below.
Paramedics raced to the scene and Jason was airlifted via the HEMS4 to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he was later diagnosed with a fractured eye socket and bleeding on the brain.
Tuesday, November 2 is a day neither will forget. The trauma of the event and the overwhelming support that subsequently flowed (and continues to do so) from their tight-knit community brings a wave of mixed emotions.
Speaking with Western District Newspapers earlier this week, Cassie said Jason was now recovering at home but it will be a “long road”.
“It took him nearly three days to get his muscles to work and be able to walk, and a week later he is starting to move even better,” she said.
“It is going to be a long couple of months but we’re very lucky it wasn’t worse, because it sure could have been.”
While the hurt the young family have endured over the last week has been overwhelming, so too has the concern, love and support offered from hundreds of locals across the region.
“Within half an hour we had ambulances and CFA units out the front, and I had so many phone calls and messages from people wanting to help,” Mrs Greaves said.
“People have offered to help with Jordan (Cassie and Jason’s son), with the shop, to drive us to Melbourne, to mow the lawn, clean the house and cook us food.
“It has been very overwhelming. We try to do what we can to help everyone in our community so to be on the other side of that is really nice.
“We’ve had grown men in here in tears after hearing about what happened to Jason.”
The concept of community is one the Greaves family holds close.
They recently celebrated the 10th birthday of their business, Greavesys Fruit N Veg, which they take pride in stocking with a diverse range of local products in support of small retailers and producers from across the south west.
Mrs Greaves said she and Jason have spent time reading through the hundreds of messages of support together.
“He’s overwhelmed,” she said.
“We had a card delivered from a little girl, Ella, which brought him to tears – and he’s not a man who ever sheds a tear – so he has been very touched by all of the support.
“He has read as many messages as he can, and I’ve read a lot to him, but he’s just gobsmacked at how many people have shown concern for him.
“We’re just a green grocer in a small country town and we do what we can to help others, so to have it come back is just overwhelming.”
Mrs Greaves also expressed her gratitude to their staff.
“As soon they found out I had a couple of them at the house making sure we were okay, and they’ve come in and gotten the job done to make sure all our wholesalers still get their food and our customers get served,” she said.