Tourist’s leg amputated in dramatic Tasmanian rescue

A man was kayaking with friends when his leg became wedged between rocks in the rapids, trapping him.

A Lithuanian tourist is fighting for life after having his leg amputated in a bid to save his life during a dramatic, 20-hour whitewater rescue in Tasmania.

The 69-year-old Lithuanian man remains in hospital following a dramatic rescue on Saturday after he became trapped wedged between rocks on the Franklin River a day earlier.

The 69-year-old man was on kayak trip when he slipped and fell into the water becoming wedged between rocks. Pictures: Tasmania Police

The man - who has 50 years experience in white water rafting - had been on the river with a group of friends from Lithuania when he slipped on a rock and his leg became wedged underwater.

When rescuers ran out of options after several failed attempts to free him, and because of fears his condition was deteriorating, the decision was made to amputate his leg above the knee.

How rescuers worked hard to help the man

Tasmania Police constable Callum Herbert said the rescue efforts was one some of the most intense scenarios he’s ever seen in the region.

“Most entrapments would be more simple than this,” constable Herbert said.

“This patient was so entrapped it’s involved an amputation of a limb.

“It’s pretty much the worst case scenario you could get aside from drowning.

“He’s fallen into the river in an awkward position.

“The circumstances where he could not be physically removed, every available angle to try to manipulate him out and every available.”

It took 20 hour for rescuers to free the man. Pictures: Tasmania Police

Surf Life Saving Tasmania swift water rescue technician Ace Petrie praised the man and his crew for their efforts during the challenging rescue.

“His rafting crew had done a great job in securing him as best they could,” Mr Petrie said.

“He was sort of wedged, I would describe it like an hourglass, he had his knee trapped in the rocks in a deep section of that rapid.

“There were a number of hazards we had to deal with and work around to gain access to the patient and make a further assessment of his entrapment.

“That rapid was moving quite fast, water level for the Franklin River was half of what it normally was.”

Mr Petrie said the rescue was hindered by the “very dynamic, changing, hazardous environment” they all found themselves in.

“We would have like the river as low as possible, that would have made the extrication probably a little bit easier,” he said.

“We were just lucky the weather was very kind to us and the water level as such wasn’t rising, which would have changed the complexity.

“At the time when he went in, it was roughly around his chest height.

“As the hours went on, the water level were dropping but it wasn’t dropping fast enough as how we would have liked.

“I was quite surprised with the water temp, it wasn’t as cold as it certainly can be especially in the winter.”

Rescue teams at Franklin River in southwest Tasmania spent a long time working to free the Lithuanian. Pictures: Tasmania Police

Deciding to amputee

The decision was made by medical professionals and in consultation with the man, allowing him to be winched to safety and airlifted to Royal Hobart Hospital.

Mr Petrie said the efforts to free the man were arduous, with rescuers even attempting to use the jaws of life equipment underwater.

After we assessed his entrapment, we started off with the basic scenarios using ropes and pulleys.

“We weren’t budging these rocks at all, this went on for approximately 10-12 hours,” he said.

“We had to get that equipment into the water, it was quite fast flowing which made it difficult to get it stable at that time.

“Everyone wanted this guy out. We weren’t giving up.”

Another issue that proved a challenge for the rescue crew was the lack of English the man was able to speak.

“He had a little bit of broken english, like when we were trying to pull his leg out he could say ‘My leg’s broken’ or “broken leg” but a part from that we couldn’t take his mind off the situation by talking to him about his family or the trips he’d done,” Mr Petrie said.

“That was really hard.”

Thankfully, one of the men’s travel buddies was a Lithuanian doctor who was able to translate some of the medical information required before it was decided amputation was the only option.

“The complexities of amputation anywhere are significant,” Ambulance Tasmania intensive care flight paramedic Mitch Parkinson said.

“There is an incredible ethical (and) legal component to that discussion and then we lay in the complexities of it needing to be done to achieve his rescue and it being in broken English and being shared through a lithuanian translator.

“We did our best to convey the realities of his entrapment.

“When it came to discussing the realities of his entrapment and the decisions that were being made in real time and the ones that might be made into the next morning, he was an exceptional resource to us and we benefited greatly by him being present.

“There was an understanding that there was every conceivable effort made through the breadth of technicians that were present, the resources available in remote Tasmania, this was not a discussion nor a decision made lightly but it was one made with the breadth information and resourcing we had available to us.”

The man had been rafting with a group of friends.

Mr Parkinson said the man’s outlook on the entire situation was remarkable and he remained “exceptionally strong and robust” throughout the ordeal.

“He maintained an exceptionally resilient persona through the night and he tired through the morning,” he said.

This was an exceptionally long mission.”

Previously, Tasmanian Police acting assistant commissioner Doug Oosterloo said there was an immense effort put into the mission in order to help the man.

“This rescue was an extremely challenging and technical operation and an incredible effort over many hours to save the man’s life,” he said.

“Every effort was made to extract the man before the difficult decision to amputate his leg.

“The professionalism and commitment of all emergency responders is to be commended.”

Scene of the Franklin River rescue where a man in his 60s became trapped and had to have his leg amputated. Picture: Tasmania Police

How the ordeal unfolded

The man was kayaking with friends in a private tour group on Friday afternoon when his leg became wedged between rocks in the rapids, trapping him.

His smartwatch made a call to emergency services about an hour later.

Rescuers from Ambulance Tasmania, Tasmania Police, Surf Life Saving Tasmania, the SES and the Tasmania Fire Service came to his aid.

And over the next 20 hours, repeated efforts were made to free him - but they were all unsuccessful.

During the rescue, the man remained partially submerged in the water.

And when further attempts to free him were unsuccessful on Saturday, the decision was made to amputate his leg to allow him to be whisked to safety.

“The operation was successfully undertaken by the medical team, with the aid of specialist equipment,” Tasmania Police said.