Farmer issues urgent plea as he recounts moment his cattle fled inferno in Victoria: ‘This farm is my life. The girls are my life…’

‘This farm is my life. The girls are my life.’

A Victorian farmer who went viral for using his Bonds underwear as a mask to protect himself from smoke inhalation has issued a raw and emotional plea for help as bushfires continue to rip through the state.

Greg Conlan, whose farming property at Molesworth has been largely destroyed by the Longwood blaze, shared confronting footage of the moment he tried desperately to save his cattle as flames closed in.

“Stay there, girls. Stay there. It’s all right,” Conlan can be heard soothing his cattle in the video as the fire bears down on the herd.

On Sunrise on Tuesday, Conlan explained his cattle were panicking and running away from the fire, but were heading straight toward metal stockyards that he said could have killed at least half of them.

“I was just doing anything I could. And look, I speak to them every day. This farm is my life. The girls are my life,” he said, fighting back tears.

“It’s my happy place”.

Greg Conlan shared confronting footage of the moment he tried desperately to save his cattle as a bushfire closed in.Greg Conlan shared confronting footage of the moment he tried desperately to save his cattle as a bushfire closed in. Credit: Sunrise

Conlan said around 80 per cent of his property has been destroyed. Despite the scale of the damage, he said he considers himself one of the luckier ones, having not lost any of his cattle.

With an estimate of more than 15,000 livestock killed in the fires, Conlan said he is thankful to still have enough feed for his cattle over the coming days.

“I actually feel like I’ve fared OK. I’ve lost 80 per cent of my pastures … we’ve lost so much here, but there’s so many people that have lost so much more, and they’ve got no feed for their livestock today and tomorrow and so on,” he said.

The relentless battle against the fires has taken a heavy toll. Conlan said he has only slept for about six hours over the span of four days while trying to protect his land and animals, and has since developed breathing problems due to prolonged exposure to smoke.

With no protective equipment on hand, he was forced to improvise, leading to the now iconic image of him using his Bonds underwear as protection.

“I resorted to using my Bonds underwear as a makeshift face mask,” he laughed.

Greg Conlan uses Bonds underwear to protect himself from smoke.Greg Conlan uses Bonds underwear to protect himself from smoke. Credit: GoFundMe

As communities grapple with the aftermath, Conlan has launched a GoFundMe page to support fellow farmers impacted by the fires.

“A lot of farmers have lost everything. A lot of farmers have lost all their pastures, all their haystacks. That hay is so important to get us through this time of the year, because it’s just so dry, there’s no nutrition in the feed on the ground,” he explained.

Conlan urged people to donate or provide essential supplies if they can.

The response has been overwhelming, with $55,181 so far raised of a $60k goal.