A Queensland bushwalker has said he had to “carry his leg” as he crawled for two days to safety after it “clean snapped in half” in a six-metre fall down a waterfall.
Neil Parker, 54, fractured his leg and wrist in the fall on Sunday while walking by himself in Cabbage Tree Creek on Mount Nebo, north-west of Brisbane.
Speaking from a hospital bed on Wednesday morning, Parker shared details of how he survived with “the whole bottom of my leg [hanging] loose”.
Parker, who is an experienced guide with Brisbane Bushwalkers, used hiking sticks to splint his leg and then spent two days crawling to a spot where he could be rescued by a helicopter.
“My left foot just below my ankle, clean snapped in half,” he said. “The whole bottom of my leg came loose.
“It’s not a compound fracture. Close to it. It didn’t break the skin but I have what’s called compound blisters on my skin which are eight or nine inches long … I had to carry my leg, and legs are very heavy when they’re not connected to anything.”
The bushwalker said he slowly crawled 3km over two days.
“I saw the police helicopter come over on Sunday night and I was right down on the creek bed so I had access to water – but if they came back tomorrow 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 3km, but two days to cover 3km, I thought I was never going to get there.”
Parker said he survived by eating a protein bar and lollies which he had taken as snacks and used painkillers in his pack.
“I had medication. I had painkillers – Panadol and Nurofen in my pack. And I was able to put that to great use when it was needed. People in the club ask, ‘Why would you carry 10 kilos of equipment every time you go for a walk?’ This is the reason why. It’s good to have it.”
The Brisbane Bushwalkers community launched a search party on Monday, with a rescue helicopter finally spotting him on Tuesday afternoon.
Parker was winched to safety and transported to Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra hospital, where he spent the night.
On Wednesday Parker said he was overjoyed to see his family again.
“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.”
The Brisbane Bushwalkers president, Steve Simpson, said there were a number of family-friendly hikes on Mount Nebo, but that the area in which Parker was hiking required bush sense and skills.
“Neil knows that area intimately,” he told ABC radio. “He’s a very competent and capable bushwalker.”“As soon as word got out that he was found and was alive there was a great feeling of celebration and relief,” Simpson said.