Bushwalker's warning after freak accident left him 'unable to feel legs'
Robert Lang told Yahoo News he likes to escape the busyness of Sydney life by going for a walk near his North Shore home, often opting for the Lover's Jump trail walk in Turramurra. It's a pathway that snakes behind residential homes, and it's one he's taken many, many times before. However a weekly ritual turned to disaster after he strayed from the path recently.
"I walk this trail every Sunday morning... there had been a lot of rain this day, and I could hear the rush of water below as I was walking above the creek... I sort of pushed through the bushes to see it, and as I was going down the slope, I guess because of the fresh rain, the ground gave way," he recalled.
"I ended up sliding and rolling down the hill and fell into the creek fully submerged. My hip took most of the brunt, but I couldn't feel my legs."
Panicked, the volunteer medic was able to pull himself out of the water with his arms and used his Apple watch to first notify his wife and then emergency services.
Lang lay on the ground injured and alone for almost an hour as emergency services desperately tried to locate him. Despite his wife knowing the exact trail he always walks, and being a stone's throw away from houses, he was well hidden in the bush, and the location of his Apple watch was not being picked up.
Out of pure luck, he wore his yellow waterproof jacket that day — and it was this that helped the rescue helicopter to finally locate him.
"Then I could hear someone shouting, and so I shouted back. Within a minute or two suddenly someone was grabbing my hand and telling me that they had me and I was safe," Lang said. "It's indescribable to have someone say, 'Don't worry, I've got you'. Just the sheer humanity of it makes me choke up now."
As rescuers began to pull him away from the rushing water, Lang regained faint sensation in his leg and was overcome with relief. Doctors later told him the impact of the fall likely caused shock to his nerve, causing it to go limp. Thankfully, he now has full function of his legs and has fully recovered.
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Despite the bushwalk being somewhere Lang has visited countless times, he wishes he'd done a few things differently to increase his chances of being found quicker.
"Think about how you're going to be located if there is an incident," he warned. "Take a personal locator beacon (PLB)... I would have taken one if I had one."
He recommended staying on the trail, not going on a walk alone, letting somewhere know where you're going and wearing something bright.
"Making sure you have a way to make yourself visible."
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