INJURED WALKER WINCHED OUT OF FREEZING BUSH IN MARATHON MISSION
June 14, 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INJURED WALKER WINCHED OUT OF BUSH IN MARATHON MISSION
A rescue whistle, a camera flash and a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) helped save an injured bushwalker from a freezing dark and lonely night in rough bushland at Eungella.
RACQ CQ Rescue completed a marathon and incredibly difficult six-hour mission to rescue a 65-year-old Northgate man from a deserted walking track at Broken River yesterday after he slipped and broke his ankle on a hike.
RACQ CQ Rescue was tasked about 3pm that a distress beacon had been activated at Eungella near Broken River and flew direct to the area within 30 minutes of take off.
The tourist had set out on the Broken River trail about 2pm from his campsite, telling his wife, who had no mobile phone reception, he would return by 4pm.
The walker was well prepared with a Personal Locator Beacon, camera and warm clothing but unfortunately slipped on loose rocks on the track and seriously injured his ankle.
RACQ CQ Rescue was provided with co-ordinates for the emergency beacon which located the person in distress within 120 metres of an exact location.
Unfortunately, the rocky bush terrain and thick tree canopy made it impossible for the rescue helicopter crew to get a visual on the bushwalker, so after one hour of aerial searching, the decision was made to offload the doctor and Critical Care Paramedic on board at a nearby farm to reduce aircraft weight and send the rescue crewman on board down the winch to search for the walker.
The rescue crewman was winched down through a clearing in the tree canopy right next to Broken River onto a large rock with an Air Rescue Vest and proceeded to search the adjacent bushland for the injured walker as the sun quickly set.
RACQ CQ Rescue rescue crewman Keeley Wakefield waded through the river on mossy rocks and navigated thick bush, vines and broken branches for more than half an hour after hearing the injured man blowing a rescue whistle.
“I could hear the whistle and sometimes hear him shouting out, but it was very rough going – there was no track and the difficult terrain made it very slow going. Plus, it was right on last light,” Keeley said,
“After searching for a while, I realised he was actually on the other side of the river and that the best chance of me getting to him was to be winched back out and dropped closer to his exact location which was about 100 metres away.”
As Mr Wakefield was being winched down again from the chopper, he saw the flash from the injured walker’s camera, so he could pinpoint his exact location.
“When I finally found him he was taking my photo and saying ‘My rescuer is here!’. He was pretty happy to see me and doing really well all things considered.”
Mr Wakefield said the injured man was well prepared for his walk with a jacket, walking pole and the PLB. He also had warm clothing on. The pair were forced to wait nearly two hours in the freezing, dark conditions as the helicopter was forced to return to base to refuel.
“In that time I was getting him ready for the winch. We had to move about 50 metres to a suitable winch location where there was a hole in the canopy and that took us about 20 minutes due to his injury,” he said.
“I was concerned about causing further injury due to the loose rocks. It was incredibly dark – I couldn’t see anything in front of me except for the fog from my breath. Even when the chopper came back to get us, we could hear it, but couldn’t even see it overhead.”
Radio communication between the rescue crewman on the ground and the crew in the helicopter was essential to finding a suitable location to winch through the tree canopy and in the dark.
The Critical Care Paramedic, who had been retrieved by the helicopter crew from a nearby farm, was then winched down to assist Mr Wakefield secure the patient in the Air Rescue Vest and winch him up into the helicopter.
The helicopter flew the very grateful walker, believed to have suffered a broken ankle and injured arm, back to base at Mackay Airport where he was then transported by ambulance to Mackay Base Hospital.
The walker’s emergency contact registered to the PLB was his wife, who unfortunately had no mobile reception back at the Broken River campsite.
“Luckily, he was incredibly well prepared and set off the PLB as soon as he ran into trouble on the track. Without the rescue helicopter and without that PLB, he would have likely spent the night out there in the freezing cold, just waiting for someone to eventually find him,” Mr Wakefield said.
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An injured walker had to be winched out of the bush near Broken River, at Eungella, yesterday in a marathon and very difficult rescue operation.
Please credit any released photos and video footage to RACQ CQ Rescue.
Please note: Full title of rescue service is RACQ CQ Rescue.
For further information please contact:
Naomi Noy
RACQ CQ Rescue
Ph: 0417 578 182