Toowoomba-based RACQ LifeFlight Rescue chopper finds exhausted bushwalker lost in thick scrub

The Toowoomba-based RACQ LifeFlight Rescue team skilfully tracked a lost and exhausted bushwalker in this scrub.

An exhausted, dehydrated bushwalker stranded in the dark in thick bushland of a national park has been found by the Toowoomba-based RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter crew.

The chopper was tasked just before 8pm Saturday to help Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) officers find the man who rang Triple-000 after sunset telling authorities he was unable to make his own way back to his vehicle.

It is believed the man, who suffers from a medical condition, had begun his trek in D’Aguilar National Park alone at dusk and had limited water supplies.

The RACQ LifeFlight rescue helicopter seen flying over Toowoomba. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Emergency services were able to pinpoint his location via his mobile phone which was intermittently contactable.

Wearing Night Vision Goggles (NVG), the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue chopper crew followed the trail it was thought he had taken.

They spotted the distressed walker, who signalled them with the light from his phone, within an hour of being called to assist but were unable to land or perform a winch rescue due to the thick canopy of trees.

The rescue pilot kept the aircraft hovering above the man’s location until Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics in a 4WD were able to reach him on the ground and transport him to safety.

Originally published as Toowoomba-based RACQ LifeFlight Rescue chopper finds exhausted bushwalker lost in thick scrub