86-year-old Walter Behr rescued after 11 hours ‘stuck’ in bushland near Maudsland

A pair of good Samaritans have saved a man in his 80s who was “stuck” in thick Gold Coast bushland. Read the incredible story of how they found him.

Walter Behr rescued after he went missing in bush near Maudsland on Tuesday. Picture, John Gass

A pair of good Samaritans have saved an elderly Gold Coast man - “stuck” for 11 hours in dense bushland - from spending a cold night lost in the wild.

Walter Behr left his son’s Maudsland home to walk a neighbouring bush track about 8.30am on Tuesday when he got into trouble.

“I fell into a little hole – gully. Eventually I kept walking through it until it got wider,” Mr Behr said.

“The undergrowth was just too wild and I wasn’t making progress. I’m just old.”

At 3pm he says his phone battery died – leaving one last ping of his location for his son and concerned family members to go off.

They searched the bush without success and rang police sparking a major search and rescue effort.

The entrance to the Maudsland bush track where Mr Behr got stuck. Picture, John Gass

Multiple officers including the dog squad and polair helicopter were called in for the search, the chopper’s megaphone broadcasting a message to residents that a 90-year-old was missing in the area.

“I’ll have you know I’m just 86,” Mr Behr who heard the message from the helicopter told the Bulletin.

“I used to lead a walking group, I walk a lot. Sometimes up to 20kms.”

Mr Behr insists he was never lost just “stuck” and knew where he was going, he just wasn’t getting there very quickly.

More than 30 local residents also heard the message and came to help, among them Brad Hornby.

“I just thought if that was my dad, I would want people out there helping look for him,” Mr Hornby said.

“We all have to look out for each other.”

At 7.30pm, some 11 hours after Walter went for his walk, Mr Hornby and his neighbour began searching the bushland.

Rescuers Brad Hornby (left) and Dale Howard (right) with Walter Behr. Picture: John Gass

“The police walked past us on the way in and told us where they were looking.”

“I reckon we must have gone maybe 100 metres in a different direction and we were yelling out and I heard this faint voice.”

It was the sound of a very exhausted man, who by now, had torn his clothes, lost his walking stick, hat and mobile phone, and was starting to feel the cold.

“He was a lovely fella,” Mr Hornsby said.

“There was these vines, we cut them away and then each grabbed him.”

And with a gentle hoist, Walter was pulled back onto solid ground – his rescuers carefully guiding him for several hundred metres back to the main entrance.

“The ambulance was waiting for me and they wanted to take me hospital,” Mr Behr said.

“I said to them ‘I don’t need the hospital, I’m fine’. They checked my heart and what have you.

“My only problem was my blood pressure was slightly high but they said that was to be expected.

“Then they told me to go home and have a good night’s rest.”

Although Mr Behr is adamant he would have eventually got himself home, he is still grateful to those that came looking for him, most of whom, were complete strangers.

Originally published as 86-year-old Walter Behr rescued after 11 hours ‘stuck’ in bushland near Maudsland