generalspeaking

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Survival Dilemma

"My left foot below my ankle snapped in half ... the whole bottom of my leg came loose."
"I was right down on the creek bed so I had access to water, but if they came back [a helicopter] ... I knew I had to crawl again. I could only get a metre or a metre-and-a-half each time before I had to stop. It was only three kilometres, but two days to cover three kilometres, I thought I was never going to get there."
"It was the worst possible scenario ... it was getting very emotional thinking, it's not a nice way to die, just laying here waiting, waiting."
Neil Parker, Australian bushwalker

Image result for mount nebo, queensland, australia

South Pine River near Mount Nebo

Somehow, this man fortified himself psychologically to allow his body to be activated when it was more intent on shutting down entirely. He crawled, he said, for two days with "the whole bottom half" of his leg "loose". Compelled to do so, to move himself to another spot in a forested bush, where helicopters flying overhead might have the chance to spot him, awaiting rescue from a dreadful ordeal.

The incident took place on Sunday last, not far from Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, when the seasoned bush walker slipped and fell six metres down a waterfall, breaking his leg and wrist. He had failed to take the precaution of informing those who knew him or local authorities or anyone at all that he meant to bushwalk Cabbage Tree Creek on Mount Nebo. He knew where he was, but no one else did.

Still, experience and confidence in one's ability to cope in natural surroundings came to his rescue. He fashioned a splint with his hiking sticks, despite the pain he was experiencing. It was either do something to help his survival odds or just surrender to the inevitable. He at least had both the skill and the determination to make an effort to even the odds of survival.

Mount Nebo and South D'Agular

The 54-year-old dragged himself three kilometres in two days to reach an area where he hoped helicopter crews might see him. He had an energy bar, some candies and basic painkillers in his pack, and water. Earlier, before he made his move, he had heard a helicopter overhead but knew his position was not in favour of being spotted. That led to his decision to crawl the three kilometres to a spot more congenial to being detected from above.

When he'd fallen, his mobile phone fell into the creek and disappeared. Somehow, authorities were alerted to the fact that someone was in need of rescue. Perhaps his vehicle was seen parked and hadn't been moved for too long. At Archerfield Airbase the Queensland Government Air Service was alerted and flew out to the last location where he was known to be present.

An hour later, rescue crew officer David Turnbull, despite a heavy tree canopy, managed to spot the injured man. After his rescue, the bushwalker explained he'd been forced to "carry his leg" for the two-day crawl. "Legs are very heavy when they're not connected to anything", he said ruefully. And does he have something to say to other hikers? "Simply don't go alone."

"I was fairly worried because I hadn’t told anybody where I was going. I had no way of contacting them to tell there where I was. So it was the worst possible scenario."
"[I was thinking how] I’ve done some of the hardest walks in Australia and not injured myself. And going on a three-hour training track and I’ve come to grief, big time. So lessons learned and the training and influence from friends, including my ex-wife, who has trained me a lot in the long-distance stuff."
"My kids live overseas. They’re coming over next week, so it will be good to see them. Haven’t seen them for a while. So yeah, it was getting very emotional thinking – it’s not a nice way to die, just laying here waiting, waiting."