Mt Hotham blizzard crash survivor Jonathon Evans reunited with the paramedic Mark Eddey who saved him

A Coburg man who survived a blizzard crash, with his car rolling 300m down the side of a mountain, has spoken of the horrific experience as he met his rescuer for the first time.

As Jonathon Evans pulled himself from the wreckage of his car, destroyed after he rolled 300m off a Mt Hotham cliff during a blizzard, one thought was in his head.

“I’m not going to make it.”

The 45-year-old Coburg man remembers the entire ordeal, waiting in freezing -4C temperatures off the Great Alpine Rd and hoping for a miracle.

“I didn’t think anyone would come … I wasn’t expecting to make it to be honest, I didn’t think I had much hope.

“Until I saw some light and I screamed for help.”

Emergency service workers spent several hours trying to get Mr Evans off the cliffside and back to safety.

Almost an hour later, a passer-by on the mountain noticed the swerved tyres tracks in the snow and made the call for help that saved Mr Evans’ life.

Mr Evans was in the alpine area as he worked as a bus driver, with extensive experience driving on the snowy mountain roads.

Ambulance Victoria Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance (MICA) paramedic Mark Eddey was the only paramedic able to access Mr Evans and said it was his most memorable case in his 25-year career.

When Mr Eddey and Mr Evans reunited nine months after the accident on June 16, it was a surreal moment for both the men.

“You look a lot different from the last time that I saw you,” Mr Eddey said.

“I’m so pleased that you’re up and about, walking and talking, it’s fantastic.”

Mr Eddey said the successful rescue and the reunion with his patient was very rewarding.

MICA paramedic Mark Eddey and his former patient Jonathon Evans reunited 9 months after Mr Evans was rescued from a horrific car crash on the side of Mt Hotham last year.

“This is one job that will stick with me for a long time,” he said.

“There are a few times in a paramedic’s life where you stop and think, ‘if I wasn’t there, this person wouldn’t have survived’ and this was that job for me,” he said.

“There was debris everywhere and he was blue, not moving.

“It was the first time I’ve had to put an IV in someone’s hand and brush the snow away.”

The rescue operation took five hours and more than 30 emergency services workers, as they carefully transported Mr Evans up the steep cliff, trudging through the snow and slowly dragging the stretcher back to the road.

He was close to dying from extreme hypothermia and had a fractures in his neck, spine, ribs and pelvis as a result of the crash.

Photos from the rescue following the accident in September 2022.

Mr Evans was then transferred to Bright where paramedics reassessed and rewarmed him before transporting him to Wangaratta Hospital in a critical condition.

He said the past nine months had been a long, slow recovery journey, but he is now close to being able to return to work.

“I just want to thank the paramedics, thank them so much for the work that they do … with so many elements stacked up against me, it’s thanks to the emergency services workers that I have been given a second chance.”

Ambulance Victoria Hume regional director Narelle Capp said Mr Evan’s rescue story was a reminder that popular alpine areas could be dangerous even for seasoned skiers.

“It can be extremely difficult to locate patients in remote conditions and we know that time is of the essence. We encourage anyone going to the snow to be prepared and aware that the weather conditions change quickly,” she said.

“Carry a phone, keep a map on hand, tell someone where you’re going and know basic CPR.

“In the event of an emergency, call triple-0 and, if possible, organise a friend or bystander to meet paramedics to take them to the patient.”