CALEB GEPPERT Melbourne firefighter – and former Big Brother contestant – Caleb Geppert is on a long journey to recovery, but hopes his experience may give encouragement to others.
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aleb worked as a flight manager with Virgin Australia (200306), a licensed plumber (2006-09), and was based in Dubai for Emirates airline (2009-12) when he applied to join the MFB. He flew back and forward for interviews before securing his dream job with the MFB. In his first weeks as a recruit his world was dashed when his mother died. He had returned home to find her deceased in the bathroom. His first experience at CPR was the unsuccessful attempt on his mum. With only a day off from training, he returned to work. “I was so determined to pass the MFB recruits course, being my dream job,” he explained. “I relied heavily on peer support and my father and crew mates.” A year into his MFB career he took a break to be a contestant on Big Brother. His mother had been a keen fan of the show, and Caleb felt he was doing something his mum would like. According to press reports at the time, September 2013: “Nice guys don’t always finish first. Caleb Geppert has been evicted from Big Brother after one of the closest votes in the show’s history.” A year later, Caleb suffered another setback, when he was injured at South Melbourne fire station. Over the next two years he had knee stabilisation surgery followed
36 I The Australian Firefighter Spring 2016
by five dislocations, ripped a muscle and had further knee stabilisation surgery, dislocated and snapped bones in his ankle, had two rounds of ankle surgery, and then a shoulder operation after two years on crutches caused bursitis and damaged his AC joint. Earlier this year he slipped at home, ripping the metal bolt from his bone and shattering his kneecap. His sixth operation is a last chance to fix his knee. Surgeons have removed a section of the tibia, and bolted it to the fibula. His medial patella ligament has been reconstructed and his kneecap glued back together. In the meantime his beloved father Rudi had succumbed to cancer, a year after a shock diagnosis. Caleb’s dad taught PE to students at a special school. Outside school he raised money to buy them bikes, and took them on weekend bike rides. Caleb says his dad was “a modern day Mother Teresa but in a male form” and his death hit Caleb hard. “He was my best mate so when he died I fell to pieces, drinking heavily and gambling, doing stupid things which went against everything dad stood for. “But I couldn’t handle life and needed escape. “On September 10, when it got to the one-year anniversary of my