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This program contains dramatic re-enactments and material, that may be disturbing to some audience members
viewer discretion is advised
an amateur treasure hunters first vacation since life
saving heart surgery
becomes a living nightmare when he gets lost in
australian wilderness
they can follow me -
you idiot!-
I was hallucinating
he is at the mercy of a hostile environment
deadly predators and his own mind
I was actually wishing I'd die
!hey
without food water or his vital medication
he edges closer to death
with every step
"lost in the outback"
Hey!, Hi, Hi
the events in this film took place over 5 days
in western Australia
This is a true story
Day 1
Theo rosmulder is on a long-awaited
gold-prospecting vacation
in a remote part of western australia with
his wife (pauline)
Hi, love
can I get you anything?
No, thanks love
Feeling lucky
Yeah, today might be the day
you had your pills؟ -
- yeah
had them earlier
see you love
the treasure hunter trip is a reward for theo
who is recovering from triple-bypass heart surgery
to survive he needs daily medication to
regulate his heartbeat
and pauline has come along to keep
an eye on him
I don't enjoy the same enthusiasm of gold detecting
as theo does, but I do go,as a good wife does
it was an eye-opener to me as to how
remote and desolate western australian bush is
Once you'd lost sight of that caravan
you didn't go any further
you turned and come back because...
I mean you got turned around and I was lost
It was very..very easy to get lost
the australian outback is one of the world's
most sparsely populated regions
apart from a small aboriginal settlement
about 6 miles from theo's camp
the area is completely uninhabited
you can drive for eight hours constantly and not
come across a soul
wouldn't pass a farmhouse, about the only
thing you'd lucky to see
would be maybe some wild camels, an odd donkey
and basically dirt, trees, and nothing else
the outback is also home to dangerous wild
dogs or dingoes
opportunistic predators that eat everything
from lizard to Kangaroos
and sometimes even people
(theo) and his two friends, (doug) and (brian)
focus their search on a remote region
peppered with old mines from
the 1900s gold rush
after two weeks gold hunting, they feel
they know the area so well
we really need this today?
they leave their handheld GPS in the back
of their vehicle
- back here at ... 5: 30, then
- yeah
be lucky boys !
To be honest, if I look back, I was
getting pretty cocky
I'd been out so many times by myself and thought
I knew the area like the back of me hand
the men will guide themselves back to their
vehicle using the sun
as the outback has few features
to navigate by
We were only gonna go out for an hour
or so at the most
We decided we weren't going to walk
around any greater distance
- gold fever
- lovely!
that told me gold favor, yeah
that's basically it
If you don't find it, it's the thought of actually
finding one
And when you do, you want to
find another one
with one shiny nugget in his pocket
his prospects look good
but (theo's) thirst for gold gets the better
of him
and his intensive search takes him much
farther than he realizes
You get that engrossed in what you're doing, you don't check to see how far you've got
and when you turn around, you
think to yourself
while (brian) and (doug) return safely
(theo's) not only late
but he lost his only way of finding
their vehicle
heavy clouds have rolled in presenting him
with a serious problem
I looked up to sky and there was no sun
to speak of
because of the cloud cover and the cloud cover
was exceptionally thick
I realized that ..you know, this is
getting serious
(theo) had planned to retrace his steps to
the vehicle using the sun
without it or his GPS he has absolutely
no way of navigating
I basically couldn't quite work out as to
which direction to
actually go back to the car
and I was getting pretty dejected
So I took an uneducated guess
(theo) has made an error that could
cost him his life
Instead of trying to find his way back, he should have followed the golden rule of the outback
if you get lost, stay put and wait for rescue
He's taking his time
It's now half an hour past their rendezvous time.
Theo's friends, (brian) and (doug), start
to wonder where he is
I got myself totally disorientated
to the point that I didn't know where left, right,
up, down ,north, east, west was
I'd been here before, you know?
This area looks so familiar
But I realized that it didn't matter where I was
It all looked familiar
Theo is in one of the world's harshest
environments
a vast and featureless desert devoid
of food and water
Without even a compass to help him
and with light fading, theo is totally lost
it was getting just on dusk
I knew by then that I'd be spending a night if
I didn't find me way home
Then, in the last minutes of daylight, he
stumbles on a fence
a lifeline in the middle of nowhere
We were told that if you find a track or a fence line
if you follow it, it will take you back
to the aboriginal community
I have to try and work out from
here which way to go
Theo's decision may mean the difference
between life and death
One way will lead him to the aboriginal
settlement and safety
but the other deeper into hostile wilderness
miles from help, food, or water
Lost and alone, theo has to make a stark choice
leftr or right?
A gold-prospecting trip goes disastrously
wrong for theo rosmulder
when he gets lost in the australian outback
He's stumbled on a fence and must make
a life-or-death choice
head one way and reach an aboriginal
settlement and safety
Choose the other, and walk deeper into bone
dry desert
and risk dying of dehydration
before he finds his way out
With night falling fast, theo decides
to take a chance
When you're looking at a cold night
if there's an opportunity to get back
to camp, you tend to grab it
I take tablets for the heart operation
that I had
and I wanted to get back to make
sure I took those
you had your pills?
had them earlier
Theo's medication is essential to
maintain a steady heartbeat
but he left the pills in camp Missing doses
can send his heart out of control
and put his life in immediate danger
Back at camp, pauline is increasingly worried
He can really talk himself into palpitations if
he doesn't have his tablets
The heart wasn't doing that great
I could hear it just thumping in me head, and the
more I walked, the worse it got
Theo has bet his life on the direction
he's chosen to try lead him to safety
still ignoring the rules of the outback
to stay where he is
I took off, followed the track
Did that for probably an hour
But his gamble is about to fail
When the track ran out, thought to myself
well, that'd be right
The only track I picked to follow
Theo has walked miles in the wrong direction
Instead of the safety he aboriginal community
he's ended up deep in the desert
That's about how good my luck was going
hello (theo)
Brian, Doug...
Pauline here
Uh, yeah, pauline
we just backing up, and...
Theo's not back yet
but estate
it really was cold
We found our way out there to
where they were
Theo's wife raises the alarm, but a full
search won't begin until daylight
Without his medication, that
could be too late
But it's not the only danger theo faces
Temperatures in the outback can plunge
below freezing in winter
He's only wearing thin cotton clothing
and is at real risk of hypothermia
Wouldn't you just know it
At nighttime, it gets very cold
Once the sun went down, you lost all heat
You think to yourself, "well, okay, "i've got to find huddle into that get me to somewhere"
Theo faces another crucial decision
Do I tread back, follow the track all
the way back
or do I try and find someplace
to camp for the night?
I decided to look for an outcrop with
a hollow in it where
you know, the kangaroos sleep
Theo abandons the fence, knowing that
he risks not finding it again
Instead, he searches for a rocky
outcrop and possible shelter
But it could spell danger
I was a bit dubious when I first got there
Don't know what's in here
You know, if I come across
a kangaroo, that's fine
They'll just jump off and be more
frightened than I would be
I don't want anything to do with dingos
Dingoes often sleep in kangaroo hollows
and will attack if disturbed
I went with me pick out front
If I disturbed it, it might get nasty
He has no option but to cautiously
enter the shelter
If he stays out in the open, he's likely
to freeze to death
Hey!
The cave is empty, providing shelter
but little comfort
The fact that I was only wearing a cotton
shirt,jeans I was just frozen cold
Theo
We just kept looking and looking and
looking and beeping the horn
and I stood up and just yelled and
yelled and yelled
Theo!
Theo!
And then we thought, "well, this is getting "
really serious
As night draws in, there's still no
sign of theo
so pauline and brian turn for help to the people
who know every inch of this terrain
the local aborigines
Can I help you?
we've lost a fellow of ours about 8k
up the track
Does he have any water on him?
No
Eric, go and get some of the boys
Unaware that a search effort is under way
theo faces a long, cold night alone
Here I was, huddled into this
outcrop of rock
which was only covering
probably 2/3 of my body
I heard a motorbike, and I sat up and looked out to where the noise was
and I could see somebody
I started running towards the headlights and waving and yelling and screaming
Hey!
Hey!
Hey, hey!
Over here!
Hey, hey, hey!
Over here!
Over here!
Hey!
the motorbike was too loud, and they
couldn't hear any yells
or anything that was going on, and they
just kept going and I lost sight of them
I just couldn't believe it
That's when I knew I was going to
be spending the night out in the open
That's when I knew I was in trouble
lost in the australian outback
theo rosmulder, has now really missed
chance of rescue
he now faces a long night alone
bloody idiot
I thought this is it
Day 2
theo has survived an ice cold night, Although
he missed chance of rescue
theo knows people are trying to find him
daylight brings fresh hope
They've got the people out in the ground
looking
so, you know, I've got to be found
Everybody's out looking for me
But help must come soon Not only is
theo without vital heart pills
but as the daytime temperatures rise
so does the threat of dehydration
I could see a fairly large outcrop of rock
and I thought, "well, that's the place I need to be
If they're going to find me
they have coming looking that place "
Theo's gone a full day without
vital medication
but an urgent search-and-rescue
operation is now under way
Pauline?
Rescue plane will be here in an hour
When they said the airplane was coming
that was when I thought, "he's fine the
airplane will finding him "
I mean, you see all these search-and-rescue things where the airplane finds people
With police and volunteers now helping
the other regions can really make use
of their renowned tracking skills
But finding one person in such a vast terrain
is like finding a needle in a haystack
Theo has had neither food or water
and gone 24 hours without vital medication
that regulates his heartbeat
His chances of dying are increasing
with every hour
My energy levels were dropping dramatically
'cause I had no fat to burn whatsoever
I mean, I'd only been out of hospital
for 12 months
Finally got to the outcrop of rock
Camouflaged against the scrub in his pale clothes
theo's best chance of being seen is
to find high ground
I heard an engine going
and I saw a plane flying around, and I realized that
everybody's out looking for me
here!, yo
hey, hey
Hey!
Oh, you beauty
Hey, here
A spotter plane is heading
straight for theo
He's certain rescue is just
moments away
Hey!
I figured from what I'd seen on tv, if he saw me
he'd sit there
and he'd make the wings go side by side
figure it low look for body flats kind
hey!
Didn't see me
I just thought, "aw, well, they'll see me " the second time
he flew over
I was waving and yelling and whatnot
Hey!
Come on, hey!
Come on!
Hey, hey!
Idiot!
bloody
Despite flying directly overhead
the pilot failed to spot theo against
the scrub
It's a crushing blow
There are dozens of people looking for him
but he's never felt so alone
Well, I called him every name under the sun
Yelled, screamed, threw rocks at him
Just couldn't believe that
here I was, out in the middle of nowhere
sitting on an outcrop of rock
and he couldn't see me
Theo's situation suddenly worsens
and his body, weakened by his recent heart surgery
reacts to the frustration and spiraling physical
and mental strain of his ordeal
Just a year earlier, theo's operation involved
removing veins from his legs
and grafting them onto his heart to
pump blood more effectively
Medication regulates the blood flow
but without it
theo's heartbeat can swing wildly
out of control
Theo is at critical risk of heart failure
I had visions of, you know, grafts
being blown off
Theo rosmulder has been lost in the outback
for more than 24 hours
Rescue planes have failed to spot him
and lacking vital medication, his heart is
now beating out of control
The heart was going haywire, and I had to wait for it to calm down
I just hoped the old ticker holds up, because the
way it's thumping and bumping
it's... it's not doing real well
As a second night falls, his chances of survival
are fading fast
Theo again ignores the rule to stay
in one place
and continues to wander in the hope
of finding the fence
but the more he walks, the more disorient
it he start to become
I didn't have any actual sense of which way
I was actually going to
I was walking away from where I was lost
and not staying in the same area
Day 3
Alongside theo's heart defect, 48 hours without
water is now becoming life-threatening.
A healthy person could go three days
without it but theo is not healthy
and he hasn't had a drop to drink in two days
Severe dehydration pushes him
closer to death with every hour
When the body starts shutting down
it's not pleasant
Every part of your body hurts
You can't sit down without the part
that you're leaning on, it just aches
When you start walking, your legs hurt
Your arms hurt
It had gone from being saved and rescued
to trying to survive
and the idea that there's a possibility
you were going to die
I was getting so weak and thirsty
My throat was constantly dry
My lips were starting to get swollen
I had nothing to drink
There was just no water about
whatsoever
Theo's body is losing four to six pints
of fluid per day
causing muscle cramps, headaches
and extreme disorientation
Desperate for fluid, he makes an
uncomfortable decision
And all of a sudden, it dawned on me
Hang on a minute
You can't waste this
your body fluids going to waste
This is the stuff that's gonna keep you alive
It's the only bit of moisture
you've got, this was pure water going through
when you decide that that's what you've
got to do to survive
that first mouthful is bloody terrible
The first time, it near made me sick
I was thinking to myself, "well, you know, "i've
come down a few pegs on the ladder ,and through that
Each time theo drinks his urine, it becomes
more concentrated and less hydrating
The more times you put it through the system
the stronger it becomes, which, in turn, makes
it taste even worse
I couldn't drink it. it was just too vile
I was just withering away, and it was
just an ordeal
It's like trying to run a car on
an empty fuel tank
Some 70 rescuers are combing the landscape
trying to find theo before it's too late
Based on where he was last seen, the police
have defined the search area
but theo keeps wandering in and out of it
I was starting to lose hope, I think
they would come back, and
I'm sorry pauline I will him had founding
And as ongoing air searches fail to spot him
theo is losing hope, too
By the time he was flying over
me 14 times given up
I basically knew he wouldn't see me
Theo faces a third night lost in the outback
Lacking both food and water, his
energy is rapidly draining away
Then, suddenly, he hears the terrifying
sound of a deadly new threat
the dingoes and the wild dogs were
watching me constantly
Really started to think, "well, I'm not gonna "
get in out of this
It's theo rosmulder's third night
in the outback
Wild dingoes are closing in on him
sensing that he's getting weaker
Day 4
The aborigine trackers have been
searching for theo around the clock
Have a look at this
They finally make a breakthrough
and find one of his prints
Yeah
And he's got company
But they've also spotted another print
alongside theo's
the paw prints of a predator
the dingo
Theo summons his last ounce
of energy to keep moving
As long as you're moving, they're not even
gonna come anywhere near you
But as soon as you fall down, they
go in for the kill
But as he continues to walk in and out
of the search area
it hampers their efforts to find him
His mental reasoning has now become
so clouded
that he clings on to his expensive
metal detector, but drops his pick
his only defense against the dingoes
I'd basically left the only decent weapon
that I had against them
laying back in the dirt
I thought to myself, "well, I'm
gonna be dead within 24 hours "
And as his energy levels hit
rock bottom
theo is also losing his mind
I was hallucinating
I knew I was seeing things
get them early
Feeling lucky -
Yeah, today might better day -
Theo's physical and mental decline means
he has little energy to walk
His fourth night exposed to the freezing
cold could be his last
as he risks dying of hypothermia
It got very wild, very cold, very windy
so I basically just sat on me backside
and shivered all night
you were shivering all the time
you were cold
you couldn't lie down, you're
weakling all the time
All you're waiting for is the sun to come up
so you can just start getting warm again
Day 5
I was in so much pain that it was
starting to get unbearable
Stomach cramps
I was starting to think I wasn't going
to survive So I thoughts of the wife
kids, friends were certainly coming
into your mind
I was thinking I was going to die
so I might as well write notes to everybody on
the back of this oxidized piece of tin, which I did
This is my last message
having gone energy left
and it just carried on from there
"I love you all"
tried to explain, also, to my wife that it
was my fault that I was there
Cause I told her I was bloody stupid, that it
shouldn't have happened
A healthy person could survive some
three days without water
Theo has been lost for five, and it's nothing
short of a miracle that he's still alive
By monday, I think I had him as dead
I really did
I couldn't think that someone of
his weight and health
could live that long without food
water, and his medication
I really didn't
" Tell the boys I love them very much "
Five days lost in the outback
without food, water, or a single dose of
essential heart medication
has pushed gold hunter theo rosmulder
to death's door
There was nothing left in the tank
I was finished
was actually wishing I'd die
Theo is no longer looking for shelter
He's seeking protection for his corpse
He doesn't want his body to be eaten
by dingoes
If you're in a situation where you don't
have any choices
but one is "hey, you're going to die," you
start to think that
well, this might get is best possible
when I front that cave on, I basically
decided, well...
that....that would be a good resting place
what I'd planned on doing was
basically crawling into the hole
and bricking the front of it up
You know, I just didn't want to be
a dog's dinner basically
I was prepared to die
I knew I didn't have much time left
I heard a motorbike going off in
the distance
and I looked over, and I could see
this motorbike
know thought I saw thing
I thought, "no, you're going crazy
You know, it's not there, you know?
You've seen things before, and that's
just not there
but I kept watching it
I was looking at something that I hadn't
couldn't see ,but it was there
And it pulled up
It wasn't right there in front of me
I can either sit here and hope that he
drives up close or I start walking
like I'd been doing for
the whole week
It hadn't done me any good, but by
god, I could walk
I started waving but, I mean
it was taking such an effort to even
stand up and wave
On the verge of death, theo has narrowly
missed a rescue opportunity yet again
he get turn around back
"that was it"
If I was going to die, that was the place
I was going to die
I'd picked it
since I could see them, that they
knew where I was
I basically just collapsed on the ground
it was just a... just a feeling of
Utter enjoyment
The emotions were going through me, that
you know, that finished
the thought of dying's not gonna happen
Rescuers found a fresh set of
theo's prints
and the aborigines were finally able
to track him down
Can't explain it, it was just a huge relief
it was "ah... thank god"
After five days in the outback
theo rosmulder suffered from severe
dehydration
and lost some 35 pounds
yet his heart survived the ordeal
without major complications
He now knows that had he stayed
put on day one
he would likely have been found
within hours
I thank everybody involved for the
effort they put in
If it wasn't for them,i wouldn't be here
And like I've been telling people
the whole way through,if you get
lost, stay put
I mean, once you move away from
where you're actually lost
you are lost, and it could cost
you your life
By: WoG