By KATH GANNAWAY
A WARBURTON man who got lost in the bush last week owes his rescue, and possibly his life, to a gift from his partner.
Ross Knight flicked the switch on his new EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) alerting police and SES volunteers to his location.
Mr Knight, 39, had spent the night in the bush after becoming disorientated in dense bush near Starlings Gap and was exhausted after a night of very little sleep and no food.
Mr Knight set off to go fossicking for gems on Monday afternoon and lost his bearings as it became dark.
His family alerted Warburton police who patrolled the area where the family believed he was headed, but were unable find any signs of him or his vehicle until the next morning when the vehicle was found.
Police and SES volunteers who were part of the search teams looking for Mr Knight rated the search as the most challenging and the most rewarding they have encountered with a very real possibility that Mr Knight could have perished without a trace in the swampy gully where he was found.
SES member Russell Wulf said the terrain was some of the roughest he had ever been in and described it as “tiger snake heaven”.
Mr Wulf said the search team was briefed by police about 11.15am but had no idea in which direction they should be searching.
“At about 11.25am we got word from the police Air Wing that an EPIRB had been set off and that’s what saved this man’s life,” he said.
The rescue team members were elated when they got a response to calls, but it was short lived.
“We called out a few times and got nothing then we heard a reply and thought ‘you beauty’, but then there was nothing.”
Mr Knight told the Mail he had heard the voices, but then, exhausted, fell asleep before he was located.
Mr Wulf said he and colleague Bob Sanders made their way down into the gully, directed by the police Air Wing and found Mr Knight who was cold, wet and disorientated.
The night is one Mr Knight said he will never forget after deciding to bed down and trying to light a fire.
He said he trudged for hours through a streams hoping to walk to one of the tracks in the area before realising he had become disorientated.
“I’d always said if I’m not back by midnight I’ll be in some sort of trouble, so I knew there would be someone looking for me, and I kept in good spirits for the whole time until a couple of hours before I was found,” he said.
He said he was reluctant to set off the beacon which said it was to be used only “in dire circumstances”.
“I thought I’m not dying and thought I just needed to have a sleep,” he said but when he heard the helicopter, flicked the switch.
Mr Knight said he was fully expecting to be castigated for wasting the time of the emergency services but was reassured when he saw the look of relief on the faces of the rescue team.
Mr Wulf said the great tragedy would have been if Mr Knight had not set off his beacon.
“Of all the jobs I’ve done in search and rescue, I walked out of there and I was just floating. It all worked so well.
“It’s hard to believe looking at this area on a map that anyone could just disappear, but there is no way we would have found a body, and the great tragedy for his family, and for us, is if we walked away and he was never found,” he said.
He said he was part of the search team that scoured Dom Dom Saddle for Warren Meyer who walked into the bush on the Black Spur in 2008 and has never been found.
“You think if I had only looked here, what about this, what about that, and this would have been the same,” he said.
“Our training kicked in and everything came together, including Ross setting off the EPIRB.
“We were all elated and for Ross, his partner and his children, the EPIRB in this case was the gift of life.”
At home on Sunday, Mr Knight’s partner Ebony said it was the best investment in a gift she has ever made and urged anyone who goes into the bush to make it a priority piece of equipment.
The couple thanked the police, SES, ambulance and DEPI personnel involved in the search.
