Sydney Firefighter Johny McGirr may not be Greek but he has felt a profound connection to the country and its people since before he can remember. “I even know a bit more Greek than most of my Greek friends," he tells SBS Greek half-jokingly, except that he actually does.
The love affair with the Greek culture started from “age 0”, he says - a result of growing up next to a Greek family whose son was his best mate, the mother and father his "theio" and "theia", and the grandmother, his "yiayia".
He has visited Greece, quite a few times and has even spent six months going to school in Skopelos Lesvos.
This week as the senior firie at Newtown Fire Station watched the tragic scenes from the charred and devastated areas of eastern Attica inundate international news, as both a firefighter and someone with a lifelong affiliation with Greece, he felt helpless. He wanted to do something from afar, so was compelled to post a message of solidarity for Greece, in "Greeklish" on the Newtown Fire Station's famous noticeboard.
The message reads: “OI KARDIES KAI OI PROSEFCHES MAS GIA THN ELLADA” (Our Hearts and Prayers for Greece)
When asked if he would sign up for any mission of Australian volunteer firefighters to Greece, the answer was of course a very emphatic 'yes'.
Listen to John McGirr's interview, by pressing play on the podcast imbedded in the main picture.
