An exhausted kayaker, trapped helplessly under a rock in one of the most remote parts of Tasmania's Franklin River. A desperate race against the clock to save his life...
It was around 4pm on 22 November 2024, when the alert was raised. A 69-year-old Lithuanian rafter, part of a group of twelve, was trapped helplessly; his leg wedged between rocks after he slipped and fell while scouting the rapids at one of the remotest places on Tasmania’s Franklin River.
What followed was a 20-hour multi-agency white water rescue mission, a collaborative effort between crews from Ambulance Tasmania, Tasmania Police, Surf Life Saving Tasmania, State Emergency Service, Tasmania Fire Service, and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority to save the man’s precious life in a dynamic, hazardous, and challenging environment.
An integral part of this rescue team was Surf Life Saving Tasmania’s, Adrian Petrie and Nate Welch. Trained in swift water rescue techniques, the two trainers from Surf Life Saving Tasmania’s Centre of Excellence had the critical skills and training needed in an emergency operation like the one being undertaken on the Franklin River.
The challenges were numerous. Personnel and equipment had to be helicoptered into a deep ravine; a communication black spot meant aircraft had to be utilised to relay information; and between 13 and 16 cubic metres of water flowed down the river, along with water temperatures that were a freezing 8 to 10 degrees. The patient was also non-English speaking – providing another element of challenge to the rescue.
Adrian and Nate were transported by helicopter at around 7pm to the location and winched into the Franklin River directly to the patient. What followed next was an intense and tireless effort, where over 14 hours were spent in the water, as a range of specialist techniques and equipment systems were used. Emergency services working around the clock to exhaust every possible avenue to rescue the trapped man.
“We knew we were going to get him out; it was how we were going to get him out," Adrian said.
After undertaking an initial risk assessment and identifying the hazards and processes they would take in consultation with the other emergency services, the pair entered the water and assessed the entrapment – the patient submerged in the flowing water, his leg potentially broken and stuck in the crevice, with swelling hindering the rescue.
With the blackness of the night enveloping them, the rescuers, including Adrian and Nate, worked tirelessly through the night to save the trapped man, utilising their immense skill set and training. Different scenarios and techniques were attempted – beginning with basic swift water techniques using pully systems, before moving to hydraulic gear, and then hydraulic jacks, before specialist roping equipment and a specialist frame was brought in by helicopter.
Different angles were attempted, a new rescue harness put on the patient to assist – the elements working against them as the flow of the water caused his second leg to become semi-trapped and providing an extra element of risk where the rescuers had to ensure they didn’t get stuck too.
However, despite the herculean effort from the rescuers and patient throughout the night, by 4am the next morning every possible avenue had been exhausted, and the patient’s condition was quickly deteriorating. The last resort was amputation, but still the rescuers tirelessly continued to try and get the patient out through to daylight hours, when the amputation could be performed.
The amputation brought fresh challenges. A rescue frame had to be put in place to hold the patient up a 3-metre rock shelf where he would be winched out. Nate stayed in the water with the doctor, supporting the patient’s airway. And the amputation itself, had to be done underwater, mainly by feel, a situation so horrific it is almost impossible to comprehend.
And then finally, after a terrifying and challenging 20-hour period, the man was free. But even after he was released, the challenges continued, as he went into cardiac arrest with resuscitation taking place as he was winched up into a helicopter and taken to Royal Hobart Hospital in critical condition.
And then, a miracle! To everyone’s amazement he kept improving.
“His grit and will to survive was nothing short of amazing. He just did not give up at all,” said Adrian, who along with Nate and other members of the rescue team, met the patient several weeks later.
“He referred to himself as a miracle man, and rightly so. You think what this guy has gone through and survived and endured. You have to put it up there as a bit of a miracle,” Adrian said.
“The amputation was the extreme last resort, but we rescued the gentleman, and he managed to survive his injuries and head back home to Lithuania.
“Hopefully one day we can be reunited. At the end of the day, he’s alive, he’s made his way back to his family, and we can’t ask for much more than that.
"We’re willing to go and assist those who find themselves in trouble,” Adrian said when asked why volunteer surf lifesavers and emergency workers do what they do. “You get a buzz out of helping people. When you get an outcome like this, you look back and you think, well, that’s why I do it.”
For Adrian, this selfless commitment to the Surf Life Saving movement and helping others began when he was just ten years old. Fast forward almost 43 years later, and the Life Member of Carlton Park Surf Life Saving Club, says being a volunteer surf lifesaver has allowed him to do things he would have never been able to have done, “an awesome journey.”
Adrian became involved in the flood and swift water environment in 2016 and is now part of Surf Life Saving Tasmania’s Centre of Excellence team, who train emergency service personnel, including volunteer surf lifesavers, in critical flood and swift water rescue techniques.
This training plays a big role in ensuring volunteer surf lifesavers from around Australia are equipped with the experience and technical skills to return to their communities and be confident and ready to assist in floods, natural disasters, and rescues such as this one.
This provides an enormously valuable resource to communities across Australia, and it would not be possible without your help.
The Centre of Excellence is currently funded from Surf Life Saving Foundation fundraising, with $150,000 per year committed over five years. The remainder of the funding has come from donations and grants.
Your donation is invaluable in making a significant difference in key areas. This includes funds to provide the additional training to upskill volunteer surf lifesavers to have the ability to confidently respond to flood events, keeping communities and States safe both on and off the beach.
As Adrian says, “Fundraising is the backbone of surf lifesaving. It is extremely important to us. We do rely heavily on fundraising, otherwise we’d certainly struggle.”
Read more about Surf Life Saving Tasmania’s Centre of Excellence here.