A vote for HF radios, maps, gps, compass, bead breakers, puncture repair kits,
water tanks,
long range fuel tanks,
first aid kits and travel plans?
SOS SMS saves missing adventurer
May 29, 2003
THE text message was urgent: "Lost in desert, car a wreck ... Emergency."
Patricia Gerondis, stranded in the harsh West Australian outback for three days, had sent her cry for help from her mobile phone to her brother Michael in
Sydney.
A police officer, Michael was in court on Monday morning when he received the SOS from his lost sister by SMS.
Patricia was alone, dehydrated, scratched, bruised and terrified she would die before anyone found her.
She had not told anyone of her travel plans and the rocky, unforgiving terrain - so barren of
water that even kangaroos don't venture there.
The sharp ground had shredded all four tyres on her 4WD.
And, worst of all, despite repeated efforts to reach the outside world, she could get no reception on her mobile phone - until she reached her brother and the 000 emergency line.
Michael then helped save her life, co-ordinating police and emergency
services searchers. Patricia had sent the message: "Please call Karatha (WA) police and ask what they can do. Saw sheep and road dust. I think have my back to sun, it was on left. Emergency," it read.
Patricia, speaking to The Daily Telegraph from hospital late yesterday, praised the rescue efforts of WA authorities and said her brother had acted as her "lifeline".
"I thank him for the fact that, thank God, I could get through to him, that he's the sensible one who could liaise between the two (search authorities) and let me know what was happening," she said.
Ms Gerondis, who had spent a year as a midwife in
Newman, was planning a trip from
Coral Bay to
Cape Range National Park last Friday before returning to Bondi. But she was given wrong directions. The track she took turned into rocky terrain and, low on petrol and panicking, she continued way past where she should have headed. The sun was setting and all four tyres on her 4WD were holed.
She set up her tent and lit a fire.
"I had food with me and plenty of
water but because nobody knew I was lost, I didn't know how long it would last me," she said.
On Monday morning, she decided to climb a
hill and see if she could dial triple-0. It finally worked and she reached a local
police station. She then discovered she could SMS out and sent a message to her brother, a fraud squad detective, who contacted the officer at
Exmouth police who was co-ordinating an air search.
She covered her car with a white sheet and attached a crystal to reflect the sun from her aerial.
Between Patricia and her brother, 21 messages were exchanged. Inspector Gerondis said: "(Patricia) told me she thought she saw a plane which was to the left of the sun but way over the
hill.
"They redirected the plane and they they found where she was.
"She was very lucky."
SES spokesman Gerry Blum said Ms Gerondis had done the right thing by covering her vehicle and staying with it. But he said she could have died because she had failed to tell anyone she was going into the harsh territory.
The Daily Telegraph
Cheers,
Wazza
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