Champion Australian golfer Jack Newton is found after police alert that he had gone missing
- Champion golfer Jack Newton, 71, has been found after vanishing in Newcastle
- Newton survived walking into an airplane propeller at Sydney Airport in 1983
- He lost his right arm, eye and part of his abdomen
Champion Australian golfer Jack Newton has been found hours after vanishing and sparking a frantic search.
The 71-year-old was last seen walking on Wharf Road, Newcastle, at about 5.30pm on Wednesday.
His family reported him missing to Newcastle City Police District and an urgent police alert went out at 9.18pm.
Just ten minutes later police reported he was found safe just down the road from where he first vanished.
Jack Newton, 71, has been found hours after vanishing and sparking a frantic search
Newton was one of Australia’s greatest golfers in the 1970s and 80s (pictured prior to tying first in the British Open Golf Championship in 1975)
The 1978 Buick-Goodwrench Open PGA Tour champion was in July 2019 diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, which took his father Jack Snr’s life.
Newton famously survived after walking into a Cessna airplane propeller in a rain storm at Sydney Airport in 1983, losing his right arm, eye and part of his abdomen.
He was in a coma for several days after the incident and spent eight weeks in intensive care, where doctors gave him a 50 per cent chance of survival.
Police are urging anyone with information about Mr Newton’s whereabouts to contact Newcastle City Police or Crime Stoppers.
Newton’s shock disappearance comes just months after he revealed he had gone cold turkey on alcohol and smoking cigarettes in an effort to battle Alzheimer’s.
‘He’s been a drinker and a smoker since his late teens. To give it all away cold turkey is incredible. This is his new challenge,’ Newton’s son Clint told The Daily Telegraph last October.
Newton famously lost his arm after walking into a Cessna airplane propeller in a rain storm at Sydney Airport in 1983. He continued to be a great golfer despite the horrific injury
Newton’s family at the time said he was channelling the same grit and determination from the accident in his fight with Alzheimer’s and was making healthy lifestyle changes to give him the best chance of survival.
‘Alzheimer’s has been thrust upon him but he’s up for the fight. The perception of dad was always a character and a bloke who enjoyed a beer and a smoke. That’s not him anymore. He still wants to be the best he can be for mum and his grandchildren,’ Clint said.
Newton is suffering from short term memory loss and struggles to complete some sentences.
Newton (right, with former PM Bob Hawke) famously survived after walking into a Cessna airplane propeller