Location: Kurrundie Creek, Kakadu National Park. Map: Callanan 1:50,000, sheet 5370 1, edition 1, approx grid reference 286 007.
About 3.30 pm on 30 June, Peter Conroy broke his arm in Kurrundie Creek, on the afternoon of day four of a 6-day walk from Dinner Creek to Motor Car Creek in Kakadu National Park.
We had reached our campsite, at around 285 002, around 1.30 pm and passed the heat of the day swimming, resting and setting up tents. Around 3 pm, I suggested a side-trip to explore the falls, which were a couple of hundred metres downstream of the camp, and the spectacular gorge below them. Peter Conroy and Eve Conroy joined me.
We got past the falls on the true left and headed down into the gorge. The terrain was slow. The gorge was full of large boulders – a mixture of sandstone which gave good grip, water-polished rock which gave little grip, and sand which had to be shuffled off our shoes so they would still grip the rocky surfaces. Around 3.30 pm Peter slipped as he was climbing down a large polished boulder, probably tripped by some vegetation. He fell about a metre and cried out in pain. When we examined his arm, the bones were projecting to one side, though the skin was luckily not broken. He also had a graze on his head.
Peter’s first reaction was a desire to keep on walking and walk out, but after we explained that there was another set of falls downstream and that the walk would take more than a day, he agreed to try to get back to a spot above the falls where a helicopter should be able to land. Eve and I made a splint from 3 sticks and our shirts, and a sling from one of the small Kathmandu daypacks that we had. We wiped the graze on his head. Eve then set off ahead to alert the rest of the party and to find Karen Cody, who has trained as a nurse.
I followed Peter back up the gorge. He was fueled by adrenalin and I had trouble keeping up with him. We met Karen above the falls and we walked with her to an open spot about 100 metres upstream where a helicopter would be able to see us. Peter was still walking very fast and fell into a shallow pool, but fortunately did no further injury.
Peter sat down in the open area. Karen assessed his break and level of alertness. She replaced the splint with a splint made from a Thermarest secured with duct tape, to better monitor his circulation and immobilise the break. We set off the Fast Find PLB at around 4.30 pm. Members of the party brought and secured colourful clothes and groundsheets so that the helicopter would be able to see us easily. Eve stood behind Peter to shade him from the sun. Peter could talk but was in some pain. We gave him a Panadeine Forte and some water to sip, and a second Thermarest to lie on.
Karen Cody and Lorraine Tomlins were the two people in the party who had previous experience in helicopter rescues, and this was a great help. Karen gave Lorraine a printed checklist for helicopter rescues. Lorraine read through it and found that we were doing the things it suggested. Lorraine found a pen and paper and wrote down Peter’s name, times, and the time we had given him the pain relief. Other party members offered to help but we asked them to continue with their afternoon chores so that they would have spare time later if needed. I packed Peter’s pack, ensuring that his wallet was in it.
The helicopter arrived around 5.45 pm. It was a small one from Coolibah Air, a Robertson R44 on contract to the NP service. I waved a yellow groundsheet and the pilot waved back. He circled us for several minutes, while members of the party moved from the landing zone. He hovered with amazing control about a metre above the creek but then flew off to a spot on the far bank to land. Peter walked towards the helicopter and was met by the pilot’s assistant. By this time Peter was shaking with pain and distressed.
The pilot radioed for instructions, repeating that he was running out of light and needed a decision immediately. The instructions must have been to evacuate Peter. The helicopter had four seats – Peter and his pack were loaded into the back two seats. We put the piece of paper with name, times etc, in his pocket. The helicopter had some trouble starting (we learnt later that its starter motor was overheating) but it ultimately did start and took off after a few minutes.
Peter was flown about 35km to the Mary River Ranger Station, arriving at last light. He was then transferred to a larger Careflight helicopter (twin turbine engines, two flight crew and a paramedic) which was cleared to fly at night, flown 120km to Ranger airport to refuel, then 250km to Darwin Airport, then via ambulance arriving at Darwin Hospital before midnight. He spent the night and the next morning at the hospital. X-ray and CAT Scans in the early morning hours revealed a Colles fracture with the primary arm bone in five pieces. The hospital orthopedic surgeon recommended that he fly back to Canberra for specialist treatment and made an appointment for the afternoon of the following day with Shoulder to Hand Orthopedics at NCPH Woden. The Darwin Hospital social worker booked him into the Hilton for a few hours rest and booked Virgin business class night flights to Canberra via Brisbane.
When we had set off the PLB, it had alerted the Canadian authorities (it happened to have been registered in Canada) who had promptly contacted AMSA. AMSA then phoned the listed emergency contact, Kate Conroy, who confirmed that it must be a genuine distress call. Kate was later able to contact Peter in Darwin. She also arranged for someone from the local St Vincent de Paul Society to take him fresh clothes. He wore a St V de P shirt and tracksuit pants home to Canberra, business class. On arrival in Canberra, Keith Thomas and Rene Davies collected him from the airport and drove him to see a specialist. He was admitted to Woden Private Hospital where a Titanium T-Plate and screws tied together the shattered bone. He is expected to make a good recovery within 6 months, possibly with slightly less mobility in his wrist. Note added January 2017: Peter has made a full recovery.
Linda Groom, walk leader, and Peter Conroy, patient.
