Ted Woodbry, the Gold Coast man who cheated death more than once

Eighty-five year old Ted Woodbry has cheated death so many times he believes a guardian angel is watching over him, from narrowly avoiding air disasters to surviving plane crashes and numerous rounds of surgery. Here’s his extraordinary tale.

“This is a true story, honestly.”

Ted Woodbry is holding a piece of plane wreckage as he contemplates his story. A yarn really of how he has cheated death more times than one would think humanly possible. He shuffles his organised papers and smiles his infectious grin, about to dive into a story so impossible it can’t be made up.

Before he can start his wife of 61 years Colleen interjects, “it’s true, he’s got more lives than a dozen cats”.

Ted Woodbry was born in Sydney on November 23, 1933, a happy and healthy child, unaware his life would take enough turns to make a Hollywood scriptwriter sweat.

Ted holding pieces of the Oxley Airlines plane he crashed in at Port Macquarie in 1985. Picture Glenn Hampson

“1959 was the start of the whole situation, I was playing with Balmain and we’d won the President’s Cup the year before,” Mr Woodbry said.

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“During a trial match I got punched, I had to have major surgery, they found a tumour in my neck … no more football after that.”

Ted became a successful businessman working for the Evans Deakin Marketing Group, travelling the world, a real high flyer in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s.

“In 1961 Col and I had a trip to Canberra, we went to Bateman’s Bay, our first aeroplane situation. We’re leaving to go back to Canberra from the bay and we’re in one of those little tourist planes.

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Ted Woodbry and his wife Colleen Woodbry at home. Picture Glenn Hampson

Pictures from the Oxley airlines plane he crashed in at Port Macquarie in 1985, and Ted being taken away on a stretcher. Picture Glenn Hampson

“We got up 25m and the alarm went off. We circled awhile and had to make an emergency landing, that was scary.”

Then in 1973, Mr Woodbry missed one of the worst air disasters in history, Delta Air Lines flight 723 that killed all 89 passengers.

“We were travelling for work, there was a traffic holdup and I was sitting their in a smaller plane with the pilot and the plane (flight 723) went without us and we were in the next plane.

“There was so much fog though we had to abort the landing and we had to go to a nearby airport and I just went straight off to a meeting and then on to bed.

“I was then made aware of the accident.”

It was after this accident that Ted started to wonder what saved him, how did he miss this flight that killed so many people.

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85 year old Ted Woodbry from Southport has cheated death numerous times, and reckons he must have a guardian angel looking after him. Copy pics of the Oxley airlines plane he crashed in at Port Macquarie in 1985, and Ted being taken away on a stretcher. Picture Glenn Hampson

“Was this my Guardian Angel protecting me for the first time, or the second or third time?”

In 1975, Mr Woodbry was on a flight to Florida.

“It was September 1975, the plane was travelling at about 35,000 feet because there was a big storm in the area. We were hit by lightning, but landed safely.

“That same September, I was visiting Disneyland and I was waiting for a helicopter to travel to the airport.

“The helicopter hit the unit apartment block and wrecked, luckily no one was injured, but I caught the taxi to the airport.”

On April 12, 1985 he was flying from Port Macquarie to Brisbane following a business trip.

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85 year old Ted Woodbry from Southport has cheated death numerous times, and reckons he must have a guardian angel looking after him. Copy pics of the Oxley airlines plane he crashed in at Port Macquarie in 1985, and Ted being taken away on a stretcher. Picture Glenn Hampson

“We’d taken off and reached a height of about 10 storeys and the alarm went off. The pilot lowered wing flaps, we crashed into a paddock and the impact point was on my actual seat.

“A passenger kicked the rear door out, fuel was leaking, most passengers travelled about 15 metres from the wreck and were on the ground.

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“The gentleman beside was bleeding badly from the neck, I covered the neck area for over 40 minutes while on my knees.

“Passengers were placed in an ambulance, there was no room for me, so I travelled in the front seat with the driver.”

He would spend weeks in hospital in Port Macquarie with spinal injuries and internal bleeding before he was flown to the Gold Coast, although there wasn’t enough room upfront, so Ted had to be laid out in the rear of the plane.

Ted Woodbry missed Delta Airlines Flight 723, the worst plane crash in Boston's history. A rescue worker can be seen here at the wreckage in July 31, 1973. Photo: CHARLES DIXON/ BOSTON GLOBE STAFF

While in hospital the doctors would find a group of blood clots the day he was set to leave hospital.

“The top specialist told me I had to be out by 9.30am, they need the bed, the nurse said I wasn’t going anywhere, so she went and got the matron, who arranged for a special test.

“It was proven I had five blood clots in my lungs … they told me I would have been dead within 24 hours.”

Ted would have a few other brushes with death, a few stents needed in his heart after mowing the lawn, followed by a pacemaker a couple of years later after a round of golf.

“There’s not one lie in any of that, I think there is a guardian angel looking over me, I believe someone has been looking over me. I’ve been assisted through my life, there’s no doubt.”

All in all Ted is doing remarkably well, a bit of back pain, and he’s lost about seven centimetres in height because of the impact of the crash, but for an 85-year-old who loves a round of golf, his guardian angel won’t be out of a job for a long while yet.