In the extraordinary, wide ranging photographic collection of Darwin agronomist / activist Robert Wesley-Smith, items from which frequently appear in this blog, is this startling shot of him- seemingly airborne and padded up - against the backdrop of the Darwin Hospital, with a link to J.K.Rowling's l999 novel, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Naturally, on seeing it for the first time , we issued an urgent please explain . The saga goes that while helping a friend throw roofing iron into the tip at Nhulunbuy in the Northern Territory in 2008, a gust of wind blew him off the back of a vehicle and he fell onto a metal skip , banging his head , with dire consequences.
Unconscious , he was flown to Darwin , where he was in a coma for two weeks . While in hospital , his mother and twin brothers , Martin and Peter , came up from south and stayed in Wes's rural property .
On his website, Martin notified the world and answered the many emails of concern that poured in from near and far . Some said he was too young to die , as there were many more causes for which to fight.
When he came out of the coma and became aware of what was going on , he wanted to go home , but the medicos said he was not fit enough to go. "Against my will ", he said he was kept imprisoned in hospital for several weeks .
In particular , he was concerned about his 90 year old mother , up from Adelaide , and the impact of the heat upon her.
At one stage she was taken for a trip down the track and Wes instructed that the airconditioner in the car be turned on high for her . He was informed she had bounced out of the car more sprightly than she had been for a long time .
To mark his time in hospital Jane Whiteaker , a Darwin schoolteacher , produced a booklet about the whole episode, called the Wes Side Story , a play on the West Side Story musical , which ran to many pages , at least 40, that included photos of him in the coma , coming out , visitors , the above illustration. Wes has the only hard copy ,one of his many prized , unusual possessions ,which includes a Grace Kelly medal and a large collection of protest T-shirts worn in many campaigns .
