A British tourist has been rescued in the Australian outback after emergency services spotted an SOS message carved in sand.
Self-described explorer Geoff Keys, 63, was found in the Jardine National Park in North Queensland after being lost for two days. The retired AA mechanic was barefoot, alone and without food after getting lost while swimming along a creek in search of Eliot Falls, an isolated waterfall.
Writing on his blog, My Keys explains that when he was unable to find the waterfall he decided to return to his campsite.
“Instead of turning round and swimming back upstream I decided to take to the bush and cut across to the track. It was nearly dark. I had no shoes. What was I thinking of?” he wrote.
Mr Keys wandered around until 2am, before settling for the night. “As the morning went on, I heard helicopters over in the distance and guessed they were searching for me.”
“Nothing to do but keep swimming and that’s what I did.”
After spending the day attempting to retrace his footsteps, he carved the SOS message “HELP 2807” with an arrow pointing downstream, in the sand to attract the attention of the search party.
Rescue coordinator Senior Constable Brad Foat, spotted the message. Mr Foat said, “I was stoked as this was the first good clue we had.
“I made a decision to scout a little further before returning to reassign all the helicopters.”
“After we travelled another 6km I asked the pilot to turn back so I could head back to the drawing board, when out of the blue we spotted our missing man standing in the middle of the creek, waving at us.”
He had to spend another night in the open, and resume swimming again before rescuers noticed the message and eventually winched him to safety.
Police said they had been on the verge of re-directing their search to another area of dense bush land when they saw the SOS.
He was taken to hospital with exhaustion, dehydration, and deep cuts to his feet.
“It’s safe to say that I’m very grateful to everyone involved in my rescue.”
“Their skill and professionalism is incredible. I feel stupid but lucky.”
