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A man has had his leg amputated and is fighting for life after a complex 20-hour rescue in south-west Tasmania, after he fell into a rock crevice during a rafting trip with friends.
The international visitor, aged in his 60s, was pack rafting along the Franklin River when he slipped and became trapped between rocks in rapids on Friday afternoon, acting assistant police commissioner Doug Oosterloo said.
His smartwatch made a call for assistance about an hour later and triggered an emergence response, providing rescuers with his location.
The man was partly submerged in water and workers unsuccessfully tried to extract him several times on Friday evening and Saturday morning.
A medical team stayed with him throughout the ordeal and determined his condition was deteriorating.
“This was a life and death situation and the decision was made in consultation with the patient to amputate his leg to be able to remove him from the rock crevice,” Oosterloo said.
“He is described as being in a critical condition but it is quite clear from the medical advice that had he remained in the location where he was, and trapped in the rock crevice he would not have survived.”
Oosterloo said it was a challenging rescue for everyone involved and said workers did well to get the man out.
The man was sedated while his left leg was amputated above the knee.
Ambulance Tasmania’s Charles Wendell-Smith said his colleagues described the man as resilient and positive throughout the rescue attempts.
“Very positively focused and optimistic to be rescued and get out of the situation that he was in,” he said.
One ambulance worker slipped at the site and suffered a wrist injury.
“The scene was an incredibly challenging location in the remote and austere environment of the south-west of Tasmania on the Franklin River,” Wendell-Smith said.
“Not only were they in the elements throughout the night with limited communications, but they were in a precarious location with lots of hazards and risks around them.”
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The man was trapped for about 20 hours in total and had been travelling in a group of 11 international visitors, who Oosterloo said were well prepared and well resourced for the multi-day rafting trip.
“The beauty of Tasmania’s wilderness is what attracts people to this state but that wilderness is also some of the most challenging and rugged terrain in the world,” he said.
“Even if you are well prepared, even if you do take all necessary precautions, things can go wrong.
“It’s a really timely reminder to people to make sure you take all those precautions in the interest of your own safety.”
Authorities have not identified the man publicly or revealed his nationality as they have been unable to contact his family overseas.
Those travelling with him are being airlifted away from the area and police are waiting to speak to them to find out exactly what happened.
“Our understanding is that he was scouting the area,” Oosterloo said.
“They’d stopped kayaking. They were on the shore. He was scouting the area and he slipped and fell into that rock crevice.”
