Bribie Island: Man left in critical condition after falling into a hole

A man in his 20s is in a critical condition after falling into a hole and being buried by sand on Bribie Island on Saturday.

A man in his 20s is in a critical condition after falling into a hole and being buried by sand on Bribie Island at 1.54pm on Saturday.

Queensland Ambulance services treated the patient at the scene on the north of the island.

The RACQ LifeFlight’s “rescue critical care doctor and QAS flight paramedic” was dropped at the scene.

QAS confirmed the man had been flown by LifeFlight in a critical condition to the Princess Alexandra Hospital at 4.40pm.

It is understood the 25-year-old man became buried while on the island with a group of friends who had dug a hole in the sand.

He then somehow fell into the hole headfirst as the sand around him collapsed and left him buried for an extended period of time.

He was reportedly without a pulse once his friends managed to free him and performed CPR until nearby rangers used an automatic defibrillator to revive him after approximately 45 minutes.

QAS spokesman Peter Batt told 9 News the return of pulse after an extended period was evidence of “good CPR”.

An RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter crew airlifted a man to hospital after he fell into a large hole. Picture RACQ LifeFlight

“It’s a credit to those people that got in and helped with their first aid,” he said.

The Sunshine Coast-based chopper was tasked to the incident on the north-east side of the island just after 2pm on Saturday.

The pilot landed on the beach to deliver the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue Critical Care Doctor and QAS Flight Paramedic as close to the scene as possible.

The aeromedical crew joined QAS paramedics, Queensland Police Service and Queensland Fire and Emergency Service officers who had responded to the incident.

Emergency service personnel worked together to transfer the injured man, who is aged in his 20s, to the rescue helicopter according to a LifeFlight statement.

Ali King, State MP for Pumicestone Pumicestone, which includes Bribie Island, Caboolture & surrounds, acknowledged the “tragic day” for her electorate.

Later on Saturday two people died after a three-car crash on the D’Aguilar Highway near Caboolture.

“As most of us are turning our minds to Christmas, it’s also been a tragic day in our communities,” she wrote on Facebook.

“I know we’re all thinking of the people involved in today’s terrible crash at Caboolture, as well as the young man seriously injured on the beach at Bribie.”

She expressed gratitude to the emergency services involved in responding to the incidents.

“We’re so grateful to you all.”

The man was in a critical condition after being flown out by LifeFlight. Picture RACQ LifeFlight

Northern Bribie Island has had a long history of coastal erosion, with monitoring by the Department of Environment and Science since 1995 showing recession of the eastern shoreline of between 1m to 2m per year.

In April this year maritime design house and technical consulting firm BMT, delivered a 48-page report to DES, titled Review of Causes of Northern Bribie Island Erosion report.

In January 2022 Ex-Tropical Cyclone Seth and a king tide causes seas to split the island in two at the northern end with a widening gap of 400m that swallowed up trees and vegetation.

Water then began to surge through the island for the first time and form a second bar into the Pumicestone Passage and Golden Beach.

The tidal breakthrough left Bulcock Beach and Happy Valley at Caloundra almost unrecognisable as sand build up made it possible to walk across to Bribie Island.

Caloundra Coast Guard deputy commander Jerry Jurczak said he observes regular sandbank movement following the breakthrough.

“The breakthrough is progressing south every week, it is also changing the inside of the passage and moving sandbanks around weekly,” Mr Jurczak told The Sunshine Coast Daily in September.

“There’s more tree line eroding and ending up in the passage, so everytime we are on the water there, we’re looking out for trees everywhere.”

Mr Jurczak urged boat users to be safe on the water, with a number of vessels overturning while attempting to cross the new bar.

More to come.