Father-of-two has spent 70 days away from his family in hotel quarantine

A Sydney father-of-two has spent 70 of the past 148 days cooped up in hotel quarantine due to his rare career.

Cameron Croucher, who works as a horse handler taking thoroughbreds around the globe, has suffered through five separate 14-day stints in hotel isolation.

The 51-year-old from West Pennant Hills said the lengthy time away from his family has started to take its toll.

‘I’ve travelled for my work for the past 20 years, so they are used to dad going away and coming back, but they’re not used to me being away for 70 days out of 148,’ he told Nine News. 

Cameron Croucher, who works as a horse handler taking thoroughbreds around the globe, has suffered through five separate 14-day stints in hotel isolation

Mr Croucher, 51, said dealing with the lack of fresh air and human contact have been two of his biggest struggles over the past five months 

Mr Croucher has missed out on his 25th wedding anniversary, his niece’s wedding and countless parent-teacher interviews with his two teenage daughters.

Despite being a ‘fairly strong person mentally,’ the managing director of Equine International Airfreight admitted his time in quarantine has become ‘pretty tough’.

Mr Croucher said dealing with the lack of fresh air and human contact have been two of his biggest struggles over the past five months. 

Despite being confined to a small hotel room, Mr Croucher still manages to run at least 3.5km a day – making his way from the window 7m away to the door.

The father has also been forced to turn to innovative ways to make food, such as heating up croissants on an iron or cooking broccoli inside a boiling kettle.

Despite finding ways to pass the time, Mr Croucher is desperate for his job to be classified the same as commercial airline staff so he can quarantine at the family home instead. 

‘It’s very, very frustrating. We’re not walking down the aisles of planes serving passengers from all over the world. In many cases, we’re not even getting off the aircraft,’ he said. 

The father has also been forced to turn to innovative ways to make food, such as heating up croissants on an iron or cooking broccoli inside a boiling kettle

Mr Croucher’s business has also taken a hit during the pandemic. Due to stringent travel restrictions, his casual staff no longer want to take international flights, leaving him with an even bigger work load.  

‘If people who are qualified to travel on these planes with horses or animals of any sort refuse to go because of the quarantine situation, we will close down an entire export industry, which in a Covid recovery period is not a very smart thing to do,’ he said.

Mr Croucher’s hotel hell is far from over, with at least six more international trips planned over the next seven months.