We reported earlier today about the former US Olympian who lost all of his medals in the Palisades fire.
Swimmer Gary Hall Jr, 50, won five Olympic golds, three silvers and two bronzes, but only had time to grab his dog Puddles and his insulin.
He’s just spoken to Sky’s presenter Barbara Serra, telling her he had just three minutes to leave his home as the flames closed in.
“You find out a lot about yourself in that moment,” he said.
“What was more important to me, the Olympic medals or my dog? I guess my dog means more to me.”
The scenes in the Palisades were of “distress” and “desperation”, he added, with parents trying to reach their children.
“I was there when the sirens started in the village and, by that point, fire was already visible,” he said.
“Watching homes go up in smoke and fire… you can imagine the panic.”
He said “the glass isn’t half full or half empty” – rather, “the glass doesn’t exist”.
‘That’s gotten me more than anything’
But the “most emotional” part for Hall, he said, is how families of the young children who attend his swimming lessons have reached out.
“It’s easy to focus on your own losses, but I teach kids – like two to eight-years-old – how to swim,” he said.
“And so I get to know these kids really, really well, and their families through that process. They have become family.
“And so to see them and getting texts from people who have lost everything, asking if I’m OK, if my dog puddles is OK – that has gotten me more than anything.“
And he added: “It makes me the most sad that I’ll never probably see some of those families again.”
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