Trapped kayaker had leg cut off in grueling rescue in Australia. Now he can go home
A Lithuanian kayaker is finally heading home after spending months in an Australian hospital following a life-changing river rescue, officials said.
The 50-year rafting veteran was traveling down the Franklin River in Tasmania two months ago when he stepped out of his boat and slipped on rocks, according to a Nov. 28 news release from Surf Life Saving Tasmania.
He became stuck between the rocks, and his travel companions called local rescuers.
“At the time he went in, (the water) was roughly around his chest,” rescue technician Adrian Petrie said in the release. “... He was sort of wedged, I would describe it like an hourglass, he had his knee trapped in the rocks in a deep section of that rapid.”
The rescue team was joined by Tasmania Police and Ambulance Tasmania as they tried to free the man from the rocks.
But it was difficult to reach him physically, rescuers said, and they were working against the clock.
“The patient’s condition was challenging, as he was experiencing hypothermia despite the efforts of his rafting crew and rescuers to keep him warm and fed,” Petrie said.
The teams hoped the water level would fall as time went on, but as one hour turned to two and then two turned to 10, they had to start thinking of another option.
After 20 hours, the rescue team realized the only way to get him out of the rocks and save his life was to cut off his leg.
The kayaker was airlifted to Royal Hobart Hospital in deteriorating condition, Surf Life Saving said, where he would spend the next two months.
Now, the man can finally go home.
“An incredible story of courage, resilience and collaboration,” the Tasmania Department of Health said in a Jan. 25 Facebook post. “The Lithuanian kayaker rescued from the Franklin River in November has been discharged from the Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH) and is returning home.”
Officials said the man was able to meet with some of his rescuers during his recovery in the hospital.
“This gentleman experienced a life-changing ordeal in a country far from his home and family and has made a steady recovery,” acting secretary of the Department of Health, Dinesh Arya, said in the post. “I applaud every individual who played a part in the rescue, as well as all staff who have been providing acute and ongoing care to the patient at the RHH over the past few months.”
The Franklin River runs through Tasmania, an island territory off the southeastern coast of Australia.
