‘The miracle man’ David Buick wins NZ Shears open final

• Published date: 15 April 2024
• Author: Doug Laing
• Publication title: Bush Telegraph

The accident happened when he was crushed in a collapsing ditch during drainage excavation on his farm near Pongaroa on October 20, 2021, buried up to his chin in sodden dirt

With complex pelvic fractures and other injuries, Buick was flown in critical condition to Palmerston North by rescue helicopter and spent months recuperating in hospital and in a retirement home in Dannevirke to be closer to wife Rebecca, son Michael and daughter Gemma.

Now known among the fraternity as “the miracle man”, he did learn to walk again, and 12 months ago in Te Kuiti shore in a father-and-son contest with Michael and surprised even himself by qualifying for the 2023 open quarterfinals.

Father and son earlier on Saturday won the 2024 whānau event, which attracted 25 family pairings, but the big hint of a miracle in the making came when Buick was third in the Golden Shears open final in Masterton on March 2 — shearing the 20 sheep in 16min 16.064sec, 21 seconds quicker than the eventual winner, Southland shearer Leon Samuels.

The big win came on Saturday night when he was a minute quicker, beaten to the finish only by Northland shearer Toa Henderson, who shore one of the fastest 20-sheep finals in New Zealand history in finishing in 14min 59.75sec.

The 45-year-old Buick ultimately had a winning margin of just 0.504 points, in his first win since the North Island Shearer of the Year final in Te Kuiti on April 9, 2021 — an 11th win in 2020-2021 — making him the No 1-ranked open shearer for that season.

He had also been a multiple New Zealand representative and national lambs shearing titles winner, was in August last year acclaimed a Master Shearer by Shearing Sports New Zealand, and has now won 33 finals since first appearing in 2002.

Henderson was runner-up for a second year in a row, a night after his 2023-2024 win No 13, in the North Island Shearer of the Year final, and being named No 1-ranked open shearer for the season, while third was defending champion Samuels.

There were emotional scenes after the win was announced by arena commentator Norm Harraway, even the beaten finalists appearing as happy as the victor, who said soon afterwards he didn’t know if he’d ever had the dream of winning such a big title again after the death-defying extremes of the last two years and six months.

But he had long harboured the “secret dream” of one day becoming the first shearer to complete a sequence of wins in the four grades at Te Kuiti, following...