Canuck, your ticket should be there by now with mail but Canada is way out there, eh?

Bad news is you are correct you were not a raffle winner but a winner just for supporting so thank you very much.

All should have there tickets in hand by now, not that it matters to you now. We did do a reconcilliation and for sure Jason johnson counted all 150 tickets supervised by Chris Lozano so yours was there so please no worries if you have not received it yet. I wanted to get it done at the DRSS just because so many that are known were there.

Thanks again and I did get to talk to and a text from John today that he did get out of hospital jail as Tom said. He is much happier now and the healing can really start. I am sure we will all hear from John this week or the next. Vicki has been reading AR with your comments and support and is very impressed and thankful. I am sure John will catch up when he can.

Larry

Congrats from tickets 074 and 075.

I agree with Larry we are all winners in this.

Now what can we do to get ahead for the fund so taht we hace some $$$$ ready to deploy the next time it happens.

Congrats to the winners from ticket # 0048!! No PMs my direction either, so no winnings for me, but I know the money went to a worthy cause...

I'm dying to know if the Searcy winner is an AR regular!

Thank you again Larry for putting this together! I look forward to seeing John's contributions here and not just portaining to the incident!

Brett

ttt
Sorry, not really, but the Greeff's still need your support and this belongs on first page....long recovery yet to go not to mention other hardships.

Excellent news!

Not sure which is worse, a hospital or a prison!

Mike,he is motin a prson butspending time wih his dad. Ithinkt the real issue si spendig all his time in a a hospital.

Hello All

Sorry about the delay - been out in the bush...

I dont know John Greef and I am not really sure why I bought a ticket (except it sounded like a good cause?) but I got out my check-book and sent Aaron Neilsen an email asking him to put me down for a ticket ... I also told him that he would find my measurements for the double rifle in the envelope and asked him if I would be allowed to use my new double rifle on the Colorado deer hunt!!! As is the silly Australian sense of humour. Then I went hunting and forgot all about it and a week or more later I got back to town and found an email from Aaron that I had actually WON THE RIFLE ... well you could have knocked me down with a feather!!! This man has never won ANYTHING before, let alone something as unbelieveable as a custom-made double rifle!!!

Nearly a week later I am still gob-smacked and still thinking of friends who I can call and relive the moment with!!!! When I got Aarons email I rang my wife right away (2000 miles away) and she said .."Wow - I just called my sister last night and was telling her 'bloody Matthew just spend $100 on a bloody raffle ticket...can you believe it?' " - that made it all the more sweet! Ironically I just ordered my first double-gun a couple months back - a 450NE - so I think a 500 is going to go perfectly beside it". Anyhow enough rambling...

To Butch Searcy, Aaron, Larry, the other donors and winners and everyone who purchased tickets - well done, congratulations and thank you so, so much for this great opportunity and for your collective spirit in helping a fellow hunter in need. AR is a great fraternity and capable of wonderful things and I am very proud to be a member. The double rifle will be used in the field as much as I can!!

Like I said before I dont know John but I sure hope to have a beer with him one day. I do also hope the money is a big help to John and his family and he is back to 100% very soon.

now.....back to buffalo land.....

Cheers and many thanks again
Matt Graham

Gonna let me bust a big sweeper bull with that Searcy, Matt?? You lucky devil!!!

Congrats.. there have been alot of us wondering who won the rifle..

Glad to hear John is back home.. I'm sure he feels worlds better now that he's out of the hospital.

quote:

Originally posted by Scottyboy:
Gonna let me bust a big sweeper bull with that Searcy, Matt?? You lucky devil!!!

Congrats.. there have been alot of us wondering who won the rifle..

Absolutely!!! and thanks..

Not sure what the hell I wrote above but that is what happens when you try to post on a blackberry without glasses on I guess. Anyway, what i was writing was that John hopes to get back to Zim early next week and just return for surgeries. He is out of the hospital with this dad which is helping recovery move faster. Still some Nerve facial repair on the right eye needed.

Matt, you must have ignored my emails and PM because they came long before Aarons. Not sure what happened but anyway congratulations. I am certain you will love your double.

I have been in discussions with SMS all week and the final check of our fundraising will go out early next week to them and then a quick disbursement to the Greeffs. Bank will still not let me wire until all checks are cleared. I am sure Dave Dunn from SMS will post at some time on process.

Thanks again,

Larry

quote:

Originally posted by BigBBear:


Matt, you must have ignored my emails and PM because they came long before Aarons. Not sure what happened but anyway congratulations. I am certain you will love your double.

Hi Larry - no I didnt ignore anything mate - I am in a very remote place and lucky to get any internet and then I had to rush back to the bush. All I found was Aarons email. Oh well - cheers and thanks again. Matt

No worries Matt. Just was anxious to give you the good news, that is all.

One person I forgot to thank for their help that I will do now is Tim Beaudette and no, he is not the guy from Motel 6. He is the guy that is a great supporter of our local SCI chapter in Detroit and has a printing business. He helped me by final design and then printing the tickets for the raffle. I think he is either going to or has joined AR. Thanks a lot Tim, and welcome aboard.

Larry

Thanks Tim, welcome aboard, and "leave the light on for me!"
Congrats to our resident Aussie on winning what I hoped would be MY rifle!! Bloody well done, Mate!

Congrats Matt! Can't say I'm glad it wasn't me. Put her to good use and enjoy!

quote:

Originally posted by BigBBear:
Not sure what the hell I wrote above but that is what happens when you try to post on a blackberry without glasses on I guess. Anyway, what i was writing was that John hopes to get back to Zim early next week and just return for surgeries. He is out of the hospital with this dad which is helping recovery move faster.

Thanks again,

Larry

Larry, you did have me scratching my head a bit with that post!

Getting out of the hospital is what I was referring to when I said excellent news.

And congratulations to Matt on being the lucky ticket holder!

Giving an update on John. He travelled back to Zim today and still has a lot of swelling and possibly infection in the ear. He is still a long way from being out of the woods so please keep your interest up and any fundraising is critical. I spent about an hour yesterday with Wes Hixon who had just seen John and we are discussing options on how to get John to the US for some advanced medical support. Not sure what we can do but general consensus is that there are some options here that may improve his eye possibilites as well as the nerve damage. Please keep your charitable hats on and consider any donation through SMS is 100% tax deductible and will go 100% to the Greeff family. We are planning another fundraising raffle to come soon involving hunts, etc. Many thanks to all of you that have supported the efforts so far.

We must have something more substantial for the future and some of us have committed to finding a solution to all of our friends and colleages who either make their living or passion with Hunting.

All the best,

Larry

Big Bear, would be willing to try to help arrange or at least look into medical care with eye, jaw nerve injury, if I knew the diagnosis and extent of his residual problems. Call me or PM any time and maybe I could help. It is great to see your efforts and would do anything i could.

First to My friend Larry and then the rest who helped in this that I dont know personally, you all have and I am sur will continue to do a great job. As you have said more will be needed both for John and unfortunatlely the next person who gets hurt. Second to all who participated thank you and I have always said AR is a great bunch. Last to Matt Graham, it couldnt have happened to a better guy. It kind of makes that double 9.3 we were looking at in Reno several years back look puny by comparison. Good on you mate. I know in this case the rifle will get used on a regular basis. You are all a stand up bunch of folks and it is an honor to know you all.

I just chatted with Wes Hixon. He visited John this past Thursday at John's father's home in JoBurg.
John is still in quite a bit of pain. The ear is still infected and he still has further surgery to endure.
John is so thankful for all the support he has been shown.

Tom and Larry, Thank you for the updates on John. Count me in on any further fund raisers.

Anyone talk to John or family today? I cant seem to get thru on his phone...he may still be at home in Zim which would explain email and phone problems...

Tom, I have been out of touch for now almost a week. I did talk to Vicki last Sunday as she was going North but I am having same phone line troubles you are. Seems even the land lines in Zim are difficult. Have not even had a text in 5 days which is unusual. will keep you updated.

Larry

Just wanted to post that I had a great talk with John yesterday and his sprits are improving daily. There is still a lot of healing to be done but he felt his swelling was reducing. Seems he will fight infections for up to a year which can be common with a leopard injury such as this. He is able to get on line now so I think we may be hearing from him soon on AR. We have an opportuity going to get a new bolt rifle (left handed) made up for him at a reduced cost. If anyone wishes to support this you can do so with a donation to Something More Safaris. I am waiting for approval and will communicate more about the rifle when I can.

Larry

HI ALL
WERE TO START,I AM BACK HOME AND WORKING ON SORTING MYSELF OUT,MENTALY AND PHYSICALY.

I HAVE NOT GOT THE WORDS TO EVEN BEGIN TO THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR WORDS,PRAYERS AND EFFORTS TO ASSIST ME AND MY FAMILY,THANKYOU ALL.

ALL I CAN SAY IS AS WE ALL KNOW HOW THINGS CHANGE VERY QUICKLY IN THIS LIFE WE ALL LEAD,SO ENJOY EVERY MINUTE AS ITS A ONE DAY GAME AND WHEN YOUR DAY IS DONE MAKE SURE THAT ALL AROUND YOU KNOW HOW MUCH YOU LOVE THEM AND APPRECIATE THEM.

IN SECONDS I FOUND MYSELF BEING PRIED OUT OF THE JAWS OF THE DEAD LEOPARD STANDING UP AND HAVING THE VISION IN MY RIGHT EYE FADE AWAY THEN SITTING DOWN ON THE GROUND WITH ALOT OF BLOOD PUMPING OUT OF MY NECK UNDER MY EAR THAT I COULD NOT STOP AND HAVING DONE EXTENSIVE MEDICAL TRAINING SAID TO MYSELF "WELL IF IM STILL AWAKE IN 2 MINUTES I MIGHT BE OK" THANKFULLY THE TIME PASSED AND I STARTED SHOUTING INSTRUCTIONS AS TO WHAT WE NEEDED TO DO AND AS THEY SAY THE REST IS HISTORY.

I HAVE BEATEN MYSELF UP LYING IN THE HOSPITAL BED AND GONE OVER WHAT WENT WRONG,BUT WHEN IM HONEST WITH MYSELF AND GO OVER THAT DAY AND EVERY OTHER LEOPARD HUNT IVE DONE 67 DEAD CATS
9 OTHER LEOPARD CHARGES WERE I SHOT AND KILLED THE LEOPARDS WHEN THEY CAME FOR ME AT CLOSE RANGE,I DID WHAT I HAVE ALWAYS DONE AND ANYONE THATS BEEN WITH ME ON A LEOPARD HUNT KNOWS HOW I AM IN THOSE SITUATIONS.AS SOME OF US PH"S SAY ITS A PART OF OUR JOBS TO SORT THINGS OUT.

I WILL BE WRITING A FULL STORY ON THIS HUNT AS SOON AS IM ABLE AND WILLING AND WILL GET IT TO EVERYONE.
ONCE AGAIN I WANT TO THANK YOU ALL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE ALL DONE FOR ME AND MY FAMILY.
A BIG THANKYOU TO MY BOSS AND ALL IN THE COMPANY THAT ASSISTED TO GET US OUT OF THE BUSH.
THE VERY COMPETANT MEDICAL RESCUE TEAM THAT GOT US TO SOUTH AFRICA.
ALL THE DOCTERS THAT PUT DUSTY AND I BACK TOGETHER.
I ALSO WANT TO MAKE A SPECIAL THANKYOU TO LARRY
FOR ALL HES DONE.
THANKYOU
JOHN GREEFF
PS MY LAST THANKYOU GOES TO ALBE THE PH THAT SHOT THE LEOPARD DEAD WHEN IT WAS CHEWING ON MY FACE.

John, my friend, good to see you up and at 'em! I am sure things will improve with time, as they say, time heals all wounds. You can adjust and will... the most important thing of all is you are still here with us! God bless and glad to see you on the boards.

Russell

John, just read your email as well as the post. Glad to see you back on AR and feeling like writing a little. I am sure that it is some adjustment to writing with the use of your left eye and we all appreciate your coming on.

Having hunted with you several times and seeing how you approach the nasty problems I have no doubt you did all you could to sort this leopard out. As they say, Shit happens and this was one of those times so we all know you did all you could do. Never doubt it. I know we do not and I for one look forward to the time when we can hunt together again. That will be soon my friend, that I promise.

Your words to the loyal on AR John are well put. I for one knew several here before this but have been simply amazed by the encouragement and support received on AR for your support. We are all anxious to hear your full story and your compliments to Raul and team as well as Albe speak a lot for the team in Tanzania.

Glad to have you back with us.

Larry

Thanks for posting John! I wish you a speady recovery!

Brett

quote:

Originally posted by Brett Adam Barringer:
Thanks for posting John! I wish you a speady recovery!

Brett

Same here!

quote:

ALL I CAN SAY IS AS WE ALL KNOW HOW THINGS CHANGE VERY QUICKLY IN THIS LIFE WE ALL LEAD,SO ENJOY EVERY MINUTE AS ITS A ONE DAY GAME AND WHEN YOUR DAY IS DONE MAKE SURE THAT ALL AROUND YOU KNOW HOW MUCH YOU LOVE THEM AND APPRECIATE THEM.

Truly words to live by. Thanks for the update, John. Hope to meet you some day.

good to see you posting here john, get well soon and i am sure that we will get to see each other in the near future.

best

peter

If anyone is going to Vic Falls or Bullawayo near term and can help, I need to get a couple of things over to John Greeff in September if possible. I think all are aware of his plight. Any help in someone taking a few items over in their luggage would be greatly apprciated. Approx. weight would be 10lbs. No worries, nothing illegal or risky. Please PM me if you will help.

Thanks,

Larry

John,
it is so great to see you posting , my friend!
I know you well! You will beat this too!
Shall I wound another Lion for you...and Dusty, or just take your advise over too many drinks after it was finished----"Tom, next time , just kill the fugging Lion!"
Best regards my friend!

BTW, just saw my neighbor launching his bass boat....told him you would be here again in late Jan to try cold weather bass fishing again!

This is great news. Hope Dusty is feeling as well.

We will continue to keep you in our prayers.

Rich

Amen!

Lest we forget.....the Greeff Family can still use your help

Wanted to give you all an update on John. I have been talking to him a few times a week and he is as we expect going through the healing process. He had a new ear surgery last week for repairs in that area. He does have some bit of good news on the right eye and had surgery on it today. He is starting to get some shadows, lights and darks with the right eye so they are hopeful he will regain some vision in that eye. Highly doubtful that he will ever use it for shooting, etc.

He has done a little practice with the left eye and was quite proud that he is gaining competency and managed to hit a running baboon at about 60 meters left handed. John is a great shot and also an aerial shot with a rifle so I am not surprised. I will update you all after discussion with him on the eye surgery.

As to fundraising, a couple of points. Bills are still huge and the surgeries still required extensive so please help with SMS donations when you can. Remember they are 100% tax deductible.

We disbursed to them a pretty good number from the Searcy raffle last week but it will only go so far.

I am trying to put together another fundraiser with the help of some of you. Items that might be there would be an off-road utility vehicle by Cub Cadet, some sort of Safari package, a couple of ideas on some NA hunts, and possibly a gun. Not sure how to put all of this together as the donations for this are still coming together. Would appreciate any help in organizing this, thinking through it, etc. If you want to help, please PM me.

Again thanks a lot for your support. I think John will be at Dallas and at Reno so he will get to thank all of you personally.

Larry

John also insist he will be at Wes Hixon's Open House which I must presume he will spend the night with me and try the large mouth bass again with my neighbor!
Larry, has he got the ear stopping up problem cured yet?

Yes Tom, the ear surgery was to fix that. Talked to him today and the news on the eye is not good. It is not going to recover and it seems the good side of that with John is closure, he said he has joined the lefty ranks for good. He is with his father through Saturday and he flies back to Bullawayo.

Larry

Just an update for all and the purpose of this re-post is not in effort to continue to fundraise. It is an effort to make you all aware of Johns current condition and hopefully to generate some discussion given the significant level of safari professionals injured this year.

Not only John but also Andre De Kock, Rick Hopcraft (both Killed, Alan Shearing, and I am sure I am missing others. Point of it all is insurance (which they are crazy not to carry) is not enough to keep the familiy going when they cannot work. There is more that we can do to help out these unplanned financial exposures. I will do more in coming months to make you all more aware of Something More Safaris (SMS) which has the device enabling it to support these types of efforts. I have recently agreed to serve on the board of SMS which will give me some clarity to greater possiblites to support those injured in our sport. Here is a link to SMS if you care to take a look. One often overlooked possibility is for those of you that are working hard to make the budget work for your african safari and SMS can help. It is a charity and a lot of the costs on your safari can be deductible providing you participate in some level of services while you are there, (teaching, medical support, construction, etc.) All of this is one the website and can be explained to you if you have more questions. SMS can also help you arrange for the contacts in Africa that need these types of services.

Directly related to John Greeff is that his external injuries have healed well with very little scarring. His three main issues right now are 1)He has lost full use of his right eye, 2)His ear still needs some repair so it will remain open which is scheduled for March and 3)his right side of his face appears to be paralyzed similar to Bells Palsy. There is a long term plan to do some nerve reconstruction which will allow him to close his right eye and have a normal smile. Probably an 18 month healing process but he is optimistic. To that end, we will keep working to have some fundraising and will keep you informed. I have a Cub Cadet lawn tractor that I need to determine a way to raffle, E-auction, etc. to raise money. Any ideas are appreciated. Please look in classfieds as well for some of Johns wife Vicki Greeff's original artwork. She is very talented and we are selling these paintings with 100% of proceeds to go directly to the Greeffs.

John and I got to spend a week together in the cold north with some other AR members, 375LVR, Matt Norman, Geronimo, etc. Around all of the events we got to go shooting one day and John got to fire the first shots out of his new CZ 458Lott. We also shot some sporting clays. If any of you ever had a doubt of him shooting left handed you can put it to rest because he shot exceptionally well. I was more than surprised at his proficiency with both rifle and shotgun.

I know some others on here got to see John as well so I am expecting Tom in Tennesse and Wes Hixon to comment at some time.

Thanks again for all the help on AR for the Greeffs during this time.

In closing I want to reinforce the need for a far more substantial fund so that we are not on our backfoot when this happens again to our friends because surely it will. More to come on that later.

Larry