More details are emerging about the rescue of a 76-year-old caravanner from a crocodile-infested lagoon in the Kimberley over the weekend … and it seems her fellow grey nomads had a huge part to play in the happy outcome.
It was a co-ordinated search from those staying at the Port Smith Caravan Park, 170km south of Broome, that eventually located Helen Griffiths, who had been walking with her two Jack Russells and collecting shells at low tide when she became lost.
According to a report in the Australian newspaper South Australian Ms Griffiths had been missing from the park since Saturday night when the grey nomads mounted a textbook land and sea search operation at first light on Sunday.
As authorities contemplated sending a helicopter over the lagoon where the 76-year-old diebetic was last seen and where, worryingly, a 2.5 metre crocodile had been spotted the previous week, the travellers – many in their 70s – sprang in to action,.
They nominated retired farmer Roy Brown as search leader and hequickly ordered the first of three boats into the water..
The Australian reports that the former bushfire brigade volunteer stayed at the caravan park, his makeshift command post, and gave orders by radio. Soon there were citizen searchers in three small boats scouring the coast and the lagoon. He told everyone to keep in contact on Channel 10 “because you don’t want people going off doing their own thing”.
The methodical operation came to a happy end when retired school principal Laurie Bowman, 71, and his brother Telfer, a 66-year-old builder, in their 3.7m aluminium dinghy found Ms Griffiths at the most southern reaches of the lagoon.
Ms Griffiths had spent much of the night perched in a tree and partly-submerged by the 7.25m tide and was exhausted … but okay.
“It was a wonderful feeling to see her walk out of the mangroves like that,” Mr Bowman said.
Ms Griffiths is said to be embarrassed about getting lost, and left the caravan park yesterday after thanking her rescuers.
“She was brave and resourceful throughout her ordeal,” said local sergeant Chris Fox. “And the searchers were brilliant.”
