With his arm resting out the window at the time of the collision, Mr Cooper had the skin torn from his right hand and arm, and shattered two knuckles.
A doctor at the then-Goroke Hospital told Mr Cooper his hand required amputation at the wrist, but, lacking the equipment to perform the surgery, sent him to Horsham’s Wimmera Base Hospital.
The Horsham medical team was able to save Mr Cooper’s hand after removing bitumen fragments for two hours.
During his hospital stay he was cared for by nurse Winifred Smith from Grass Flat and they quickly bonded, marrying a year later.
The couple moved to Pomonal where they bought a 60-acre hobby farm, and Mr Cooper took a job with the Country Roads Board on a road-maintenance crew, growing potatoes, strawberries and raspberries on the farm in his spare time.
The couple had six children – three boys and three girls – but their daughter Shirley died three days after birth and their son Ross was born with Down syndrome.
The couple was told Ross might live only three days or three months.
“He did amazingly well, Ross. I would take him cutting firewood with me and he had no fear of the saw. He died five years ago aged 52,” Mr
Cooper said.
More tragedy came in 1967, when the couple’s two young daughters Ruth and Lorraine were in a car driven by Mrs Cooper’s sister, who struck a bridge on a return journey from Melbourne.
Both girls were killed, and Mr and Mrs Cooper were left to grieve with their sons. At the time of the tragedy, Mrs Cooper was pregnant with Ross.
“That was a real kick in the guts for us. You just don’t get over that,” Mr Cooper said.
Mrs Cooper’s health has deteriorated in the past six years.
While Mr Cooper regularly visits his wife at MacPherson Smith Residential Care, dementia often renders her unable to remember him.
“I was in Win’s room the other day talking to her as I often do when suddenly she just said ‘Tom’. It just came out of nowhere,” he said.
Mr Cooper said he was grateful for the care he and his wife had received at the centre after his son Alan convinced him to move in last year.
“I’ve made a lot of friends here and the girls look after me extra well. They take me out to the garden and we plant new seeds together and then I do the watering,” he said. Alan, who still takes his father to church each Sunday, said Mr Cooper had kept active throughout his life.
“Dad loved his golf too. He bought a cart about five years ago because it was getting tougher to walk the entire course and he only stopped playing 18 months ago,” Alan said.
MSRC acting manager Mischelle Flora said her team was delighted to be able to help Mr Cooper celebrate his extraordinary milestone.
“We celebrated the occasion with Tom and his family, complete with cake and even a pinata,” she said.
“Tom’s birthday is not just a celebration of years but of a life that continues to inspire both the residents and the team at MSRC.”
The entire April 29, 2026 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!
The entire April 29, 2026 edition of AgLife is available online. READ IT HERE!
