By NADINE MORTON
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VITTORIA bushfire victim Bernie Schulte was among the crowd at Kinross Wolaroi School (KWS) on Friday to help raise funds for victims of the Coonabarabran bushfires.
When a fire tore through 46,000 hectares in Coonabarabran in January and wiped out 53 homes Mr Schulte said his heart went out to the people who lost their homes, stock and their livelihoods.
Mr Schulte teamed up with the KWS charity focus group to draw a raffle which netted $4220 for the bushfire victims.
KWS student Brooke Hamilton said it was wonderful to team up with Mr Schulte.
“He’s an inspiration to us and hopefully to everyone else," she said.
Mr Schulte received burns to 80 per cent of his body in a bushfire on his property in Vittoria on December 8, 2009 and against all odds survived. He has undergone many painful surgeries and skin grafts.
Unlike people in Coonabarabran Mr Schulte said he tried to stay and fight the fire on his property.
“They were smart enough to stay away from it unlike me,” he said.
Mr Schulte said he should have perished from the extensive burns he received in the fire.
“It just doesn’t happen, I’m not supposed to be here,” he said.
Brooke said the Warrumbungle Shire Mayor’s Bushfire Appeal inspired KWS’s charity focus group because a number of the school’s boarding students were from that area.
“Houses burnt and I think it will help a lot of people on the rural side of Coonabarabran,” she said.
The raffle winner was Hege Golan, with second place to Bridget Starr and third place to Martin Williams.
Mr Schulte is back on his beloved Vittoria property with his wife Bronwyn.
“At the end of the day things heal, grass grows back and the Australian natives will shoot again,” he said.
nadine.morton@fairfaxmedia.com.au