Gary Hall Jr. – a 10-time Olympic medalist who won five gold medals for USA in his swimming career – fears he has lost everything in the Los Angeles wildfires.
That includes his Olympic medals, with the 50-year-old fleeing after seeing flames out of the window of his Pacific Palisades home.
‘It’s not just a home, it’s all worldly possessions,’ Hall Jr. said to 12news. ‘I really am that guy with nothing to lose.
‘It grew quickly, then flames, and you could see the houses going up one by one as it moved down the hill to where I was.
‘Hot embers were raining down on me as I jumped into the car. It’ll be tough going back to the site, going through the ashes, trying to find the things that may have survived the fire, but no expectations in that regard.
‘I did not have time to grab anything. Everything is gone.’
Gary Hall Jr. – a 10-time Olympic medalist – has fled his LA home without his medals
The fires have caused devastation across Los Angeles with thousands of homes destroyed
A GoFundMe has been launched to help Hall Jr, hoping to raise $25,000 for him to help pick the pieces up of his life. At the time of writing, $20,000 has been donated.
It explains that he fled with his dog, Puddles, his insulin, a painting of hos grandfather and a religious item his daughter had given him.
‘He was forced to leave behind everything else he owned, such as irreplaceable family heirlooms, photos, and more,’ the page says.
‘He has also most likely lost his ten Olympic medals, but nothing can take away his spirit that won those medals.’
Hall Jr. is now with family in San Diego but said the scenes unfolding around him as he drove away will stay with him for a long time.
‘People were just abandoning the cars and just running,’ Hall Jr. said. ‘Fortunately they were able to make it out but it was just unlike anything I’ve ever seen in any apocalypse movie, anything, it’s the closest thing I can relate this experience to.’
His first Olympics was the 1996 Games in Atlanta, before going on to compete in Sydney and Athens.
In 2006, he fought off a shark that attacked his sister when they were spearfishing in Florida.
Hall. Jr had been running renting his home at the time of the fire and running a business teaching kids to swim.
The blazes, which began Tuesday, have seen five people killed while an estimated 2,000 buildings have been destroyed so far.