Come home, my hero – mum

Nick Papps
06sep05

AUSTRALIAN hurricane hero Bud Hopes has been given an order by his mother – come home.
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It was personally delivered by his big brother Gary who flew into Dallas yesterday to take Bud home.
"I have got a message from mum: come home," Gary Hopes said yesterday. "Bud better listen to mum because ultimately she's the boss."

Bud, 32, of Brisbane, became a hero after uniting eight young Australians in New Orleans, keeping them together inside the dangerous Superdome, then leading them to safety in Dallas.

Yesterday Gary Hopes 40, said after giving Bud a hug from his mother he got him to a phone to make his Father's Day phone call.

"I could hear his voice crackle as he cried on the phone," Gary said.

The brothers run an acting agency.

Gary said Bud was the youngest of six children and the family wanted "the baby home".

A tired, shattered Bud yesterday said he often thought of his family in the dark of the Superdome amid shootings, stabbings and suicides.

He said he knew he "was safe" when he saw Gary in Dallas's Hurricane Grill.

Bud was worried about the youngsters he helped rescue. "I think the kids need a psychologist; someone to talk to. No one has broken down yet. They still have their fists clenched and they are still in battle mode, which is scary," he said.

As to his mother's order, Bud wasn't sure what he would do next.


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