Pride of Australia: Why brave Luke Shambrook is our hero

LUKE Shambrook’s family still don’t know what he endured in five days lost in Lake Eildon National Park. His reaction to trees gives the only insight to what he went through.

Luke Shambrook, 11, who has autism, was miraculously found alive after five days lost in the forest. He has been nominated for a Pride of Australia Child of Courage Award by Victoria Police, specifically Sgt Greg Paul. Luke is pictured with mother Rachel. Picture: Mark Stewart

LUKE Shambrook stops short at the tree line.

He looks up at the towering branches, mouth agape, and ignores the encouraging calls to walk on. It’s not the first time.

In the weeks after Luke was incredibly found alive five days and four nights lost in dense bush, his teacher saw him crying. He was standing outside, staring at a cluster of trees.

It was a similar story a few weeks ago, when he ran abruptly from the trees that circled a 3D maze at Arthurs Seat.

But this time, on an overcast day at Lysterfield Lake, the brown-haired boy freezes at the fringe of the spotted gums.

With his white sneakers planted firmly on the ground, his eyes get lost in the tree tops.

Noting his hesitation, father Tim edges back towards his son. Luke grips his hand in both of his and they walk gently through the scrub together.

The 12-year-old’s family still don’t know what he endured during those five days wandering Lake Eildon ­National Park, surviving without food or water in 6C, wearing little more than grey tracksuit pants and a black windcheater.

His limited speech from verbal dyspraxia meant even after he was found over the Easter weekend, he could only say a few words, “water” and “choc”.

Luke’s reaction to trees gives the only insight to what he went through in those missing days. For his mother, ­Rachel, not knowing is hard.

“As a mum, I can’t get around what he did at night,” she said from their dining table, stealing glances at Luke as he watches The Wiggles with subtitles on the iPad screen.

“Each night, we got into bed acutely conscious we had something he didn’t have — it didn’t feel right.

“The average 11-year-old, to persist for that long, he must have had some inner strength.

“I just want to know what he did at night.”

Luke with parents Tim and Rachel, brother Matthew, sister Lauren and Sgt Greg Paul. Picture: Mark Stewart

Sgt Greg Paul remembers long days in the search, hoping for a fairytale ending. Rescuers craved good news to lighten their load of war stories.

One rescuer recalled scouring Wilsons Promontory for nine-year-old Paddy Hildebrand back in 1987. Like Luke, Paddy had autism, and like Luke, they found his hat. But they never found Paddy.

Sgt Paul said names like Damian McKenzie, Warren Meyer and David Prideaux were scarred deep in the minds of hundreds of searchers.

“Memories of the unsuccessful ones creep back,” he said.

“So what Luke has basically given us is a new sense of hope.

“Luke saved himself, he saved his family, but he also saved the rest of us from some bad news.”

The young boy seems unconcerned by how news of his survival has travelled.

When his parents look online at photos or videos of the search that went global, Luke urges them to log out.

They can’t tell if it’s because his memories are too strong or he wants to do something else on the computer.

When given a magazine with his story, Luke method­ically flicks the pages from back to front, not stopping at a full page photo of himself.

He halts on the next page and, for a few seconds, looks closely at three small, now ­infamous, pictures — the ­moment helicopter rescuers found him 3km from where he was last seen, sitting in the dirt.

Doctors later found Luke’s muscles were breaking down, his hands, arms, feet and legs lifeless — a survival symptom of fluid travelling to the core.

“This boy hasn’t just walked 3km,” doctors said at the time. “His injuries are similar to a marathon runner.”

Exhaustion is etched over the boy’s ghostly face in the glossy magazine pictures.

Luke flicks on to an ad about facial cream.

Sgt Paul is among emergency services personnel who nominated the boy from Narre Warren for a Child of Courage medal.

“There are people who die after one day in the bush, wet and in the wind,” he said. “Yet there he was on day five.

“There’s resilience, there’s strength, there’s a will to live.”

There’s courage, too, in overcoming fears — and there was Luke, at Lysterfield Lake, in a forest of towering trees.

Unsure, Luke holds tight on to his father’s hand as they walk slowly through the bush.

But as the minutes pass, his grip loosens until eventually, he lets go and looks quizzically at the trees around him.

There is no fear anymore.

Life is getting back to normal for the little boy lost.

And for those who spent dread-filled days searching for him, that is the greatest gift.

Luke Shambrook, 11, with Sgt Greg Paul. Victoria Police has nominated Luke for a Pride of Australia Child of Courage Award. Picture: Mark Stewart

EVERYDAY PEOPLE ARE OUR HEROES

ORDINARY Australians doing extraordinary things will be celebrated as we search for the country’s most deserving unsung heroes.

The Pride of Australia Awards recognise our local legends — from those who show courage in the face of adversity, risk their lives for others or champion a cause in their community.

They could be your neighbour, your colleague or that familiar face at the coffee shop.

Whomever they are, you have the power to commend them by sending in a nomination for a Pride of Australia award.

Today, we share the story of our first nominee, Luke Shambrook, a boy whose fight for survival in the bush captured hearts and global headlines.

A fearful five-day search for the lost boy with autism at Lake Eildon National Park ended with tears of joy.

Luke’s survival — in itself a miraculous feat — has galvanised our search and rescue teams, for whom he has become a beacon of hope.

Nominated by our emergency services for the Child of Courage medal, the now 12-year-old continues to recover from the ordeal.

Last year, Rosie Batty won the overall Pride of Australia award for her extraordinary strength in shining light on domestic violence.

Thrown into the public eye after her son, Luke, was killed by his father, Ms Batty’s story and voice were catalysts for the Royal Commission into Family Violence and for widespread calls for reform.

If you know an unsung hero who deserves to be acknowledged, nominate them for a Pride of Australia award.

Nominate at Pride of Australia.

Twitter: @prideofoz