Lorella Springs - Snatch strap accident - WARNING - GRAPHIC IMAGES

[AB]

WARNING - A chilling reminder to TAKE EXTREME CARE when using "SNATCH STRAPS"
The "All 4 Adventure" boys came back to see Rhett Walker at remote, 1 million acre, Lorella Springs Wilderness Park, Savannah Way, Gulf of Carpentaria, NT, after his horrific accident.



Often when Rhett and the boys travel on the many tracks on Lorella they tow a large grader tyre to flatten the track behind them.

This tyre was attached with a nylon "snatch strap" that is standard for most outback vehicles to assist other vehicles in boggy conditions.

At the end of the strap was a short length of chain around the actual grader tyre so that the strap does not wear as it drags across the ground. The chain was connected back to itself with fencing wire.

The tyre hooked up, stretched the strap, then the connection to the tyre let go and fired the chain, shattering through the rear windscreen.

The chain smashed into the rear of Rhett's skull producing a huge haematoma, wrapping around his head, opening up a massive wound to the front of his forehead, across his left eye, shattering the bones around the eye and damaging the eye, smashing his jawbone, and cutting right through to the inside of his mouth.

He lost a huge amount of blood in the first few seconds, and then continued to bleed out over the next hour while I was driving him back to the station homestead. We had packed his head wounds with as much tissue and toilet paper as we could, but he still continued to bleed profusely. By the time we were back at the station he was drifting in and out of consciousness, having lost litres of blood.

We were all sure that he was going to die.

We contacted the homestead by satellite phone and they contacted Darwin Hospital. When they heard the seriousness of his condition, Darwin Hospital arranged for CareFlight to immediately dispatch both a rescue plane as well as a rescue helicopter.

Because the property is one of the most remote in Australia, the doctors in the CareFlight plane could not arrive until 7pm that night, and Rhett was not loaded onto the helicopter until 10.30 pm that night. This was in no way a reflection of the service of CareFlight, as they arrived as quickly as possible, and we thank them for their outstanding efforts. It was the fact that Lorella is one of the most remote places in Australia. Careflight said it was the most remote pickup that they had ever done.

The doctors who saw the MRI of his skull fractures told him afterwards that the only other MRI's they had seen, of skulls smashed that bad, had been on corpses. ... Tough little bugger, isn't he? That's what they call "Territory Tough". ( "Lorella Tough" is even tougher.)

As I said, we all thought that Rhett was going to die at the time, but he has come through, is back at Lorella, and loves Lorella even more. We are probably the most remote place in Australia, and that is one of the many things that everyone loves about it.

So take EXTREME CARE when using "SNATCH STRAPS" and come and see why Rhett loves Lorella so much.

Lorella Springs Wilderness Park, Savannah Way, Gulf of Carpentaria, NT. If you miss it, you WILL regret it.
1 million coastal acres of unspoilt Paradise.
1,000 km of tracks. Direct launching into the untouched Gulf.

Trip Advisor - 5 of 5 stars

PLEASE SHARE

[Bloodyaussie]

Thank fudge for the flying medical services we have in this country...... you would have to think for sure you would be dead being that remote.

[Hodge]

I saw this on faceache few days ago. Man that bloke is lucky to cling on to life. His face was a ruin !

[threedogs]

WOW very luck guy , and lucky someone there was available to administer First aid.
Big thank you to the pilots and Doctors for there service Outback

[BillsGU]

Great example of what can happen when a snatch strap is used for the wrong purpose. The stretched strap would have had a huge amount of energy stored in it and when the chain broke from its attachment the strap would have acted as a sling shot. When in the bush I have seen snatch straps used as winch extension straps and a couple of times I have "hinted" that it is not the right thing to do becuase of the potential danger involved. Most times the knuckle draggers using the straps look at me as if I'm the crazy one. Maybe they will see this video and finally get the message.

[the evil twin]

Jeez, that sends shivers up the spine.

I posted up a warning on here only the other day about towing with Snatchies.
I know that lots of people use them for what seems an innocent purpose at the time but the dangers are very real and risks very high... obviously.

[Dhuck]

Awesome. Great job by careflight. What would we do without these great services.

[mudnut]

The Flying Docs are amazing people. I will grab a picture of that guys horrific injuries, laminate it and keep in the Old Trol to show it along with the picture of the tow ball embedded in the Tojo's tailgate, to anyone I see doing a brummy recovery. Hopefully it will get them to listen and learn.

[Cuppa]

I recall hearing about the accident a couple of years back. Good to see that he’s survived & can still function.

[threedogs]

The Flying Docs are amazing people. I will grab a picture of that guys horrific injuries, laminate it and keep in the Old Trol to show it along with the picture of the tow ball embedded in the Tojo's tailgate, to anyone I see doing a brummy recovery. Hopefully it will get them to listen and learn.

Good Idea MN I think I'll follow suit.