MORE than 150 people braved crisp, cool weather at Moree racecourse on Friday night to support a vital service that has touched and saved the lives of thousands of people over the past 50 years – the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service.
More than $80,000 was raised from two auctions – live and online – as well as online raffle-ticket sales and lucky door prizes.
Art was the big winner, with a painting by renowned Terry Hie Hie artist Ian Reardon fetching $4300 and Cotton Currents, by Moree artist Jules Warner, bringing $2200.
A 3000-litre package of diesel, donated by Boland Petroleum, sold for $6400 and a shuttle of Round-Up, donated by B&W Rural, was knocked down for $6100.
A Stay in the Vines package at Mortimers Wines north of Orange in the New South Wales central tablelands, donated by Campbell’s Fuels and the Mortimer family, sold for $3500 – and winery general manager and former NRL superstar Daniel Mortimer was trackside last night to relive the heady days of playing rugby league at the highest level.
Mortimer, 36, is now sales executive and cellar door manager at Mortimers Wines – a diverse shift from his days with Parramatta Eels, Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Sydney Roosters and Gold Coast Titans.
There are not too many surnames connected to rugby league more famous than ‘Mortimer’.
Daniel is the son of former Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs great Peter Mortimer and nephew of former Bulldogs stars Steve Mortimer and Chris Mortimer.
“Many people often ask how the Mortimers got into wine – rugby league is not a common prerequisite,” Mortimer laughed.
Mortimer has made the move from five-eighth and halfback to vintner with ease.
“Life is different now,” he said.
“You’ll find me nestled in the vineyard, pruning under the winter sun, or serving wine at our cellar door.
“I’m rarely stopped in the street, although when we have visitors tasting wine at our cellar door, the conversation has been known to change from ‘this 2022 chardonnay is superb’, to ‘well, how about those raiders this year, huh’,” he grinned.
The story of Moree’s Emma Went, the girl who fell off the horse, was shared on the big screen and Emma and her mum, Jean Botfield, told how the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service was instrumental in saving her life.
Emma sustained traumatic brain injury after falling from her horse during a routine morning ride.
Emma’s mum recalled the morning eight years ago that changed their lives.
“The ambulance was already on-scene by the time we got there, and Emma was unresponsive pretty much on the side of the road . . . there was that feeling of absolute dread that we’d lost our little girl,” Jean said.
“Paramedics go her in the ambulance and took her to Moree Hospital, and they were amazing. One of the nurses patted me on the shoulder and said, ‘she will need to go to John Hunter’, and I remember thinking, ‘that’s going to be a long way in an ambulance’.
“And it didn’t seem all that long afterwards that these people in blue just pushed through the emergency doors. It was the crew from the Westpac Helicopter.
“They told us it wasn’t looking good. Emma was still quite unresponsive and they were helping her to breathe. She was in a pretty bad way,” Jean said.
Emma said the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service was crucial to her survival that day and subsequent recovery.
“They were able to take from Moree to Newcastle for life-saving surgery. They are guardian angels and I always want to make sure they’re up in the air and looking out for you,” Emma said.
“They were fantastic, and it would have been very different if they weren’t there.”
Friday night’s ball, supported by Grays Online, launched the new-look Moree Cup weekend, which continues today with a booked-out four-person, nine-hole ambrose at Moree Golf Club, ahead of the Moree Cup calcutta in the clubhouse tonight.
Tomorrow, Moree Race Club stages eight big races with a whopping $300,000 prize money.
Feature races include the $55,000 Agri Storage and Logistics Moree Cup and $35,000 Boland Petroleum Moree Moree Town Plate.
Club president Rob Mather said bringing the cup meeting one week forward this year was a winner.
“Shifting the races forward to the end of August was the right move. Had we stayed with the Fathers’ Day weekend, we would’ve clashed with two big grand-finals – Moree Bulls and Moree Boars,” Mather said.
Meanwhile, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service Moree Volunteer Support Group will hold its annual general meeting next month and invites new members to go along and discover what volunteering for such a vital service is all about.
The AGM and general meeting will be held at Moree Golf Club on Tuesday, September 9 at 5.30pm.
For more information, contact Libby Smith on 0447 056281.
Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service Moree Volunteer Support Group AGM
When: Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Where: Moree Golf Club
Time: 5.30pm
More information: Call Libby Smith on 0447 056281
