Don Spiers opens up about how life in the shearing sheds helped him after the loss of his daughter, Sarah

Don Spiers has fronted up to the shearing shed almost every morning for more than half a century, even after the heartbreaking disappearance of his daughter Sarah from Claremont. Speaking to the Narrogin Observer in a shearing shed just out of Narrogin on Thursday, the 71-year-old opened up about the solace and support the shed, his colleagues and clients had given him over the years. With humming handpieces, clanking brooms and the smell of lanolin hanging in the air, the shed must feel like a second home to the contractor from Darkan. He said it was a place where he could just focus on the work. “I went through a period where I just had to keep busy all the time,” Mr Spiers said. “Being in the shed really did help me get through it.” Mr Spiers speaks of the people around him in the industry like family. “And a lot of my clients and workmates have supported me,” he said. “They’ve known when I’m having a downer and they make sure no one upsets me. But you know, you’ll always get that one inconsiderate person who does stir you up without thought — but my regular guys, they keep their eye on me.” In an industry like shearing, known for hard work and camaraderie, many of Mr Spiers’ clients have been with him for — in his words — “forever and a day”. “About five of my clients are third generation now. I worked for their grandads and worked for their dads and now I’m working for them,” he said. The friendships forged with clients over a lifetime of work have meant a lot to him through the tumultuous 24 years since Sarah’s disappearance. “I’ve got one farmer in particular who I started roustabouting for when I was 14 and I’m still involved in his shearing 57 years later. “They’ve supported me through all my drama. We’re good friends. “One of them, he’s my age and he was actually Sarah’s godfather. He knew that I was under financial pressure, and that I’d spent a quarter of a million dollars trying to find my daughter. “He just said to me, ‘Don, life’s been good to me. If you’re in trouble and you need help just yell out. You don’t have to pay me back’. “I never took him up on it, I worked my way through it, but it goes to show.” The outcome of last month’s trial, which found Claremont killer Bradley Robert Edwards guilty of murdering Ciara Glennon and Jane Rimmer, but not 18-year-old Sarah Spiers, was another cruel blow to Don and his family. After the acquittal WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson said police would never stop trying to find her. Come what may, Don will have the unwavering support of his mates in the sheds.