Perth hiker forced to sleep in cave after horrific injury, warns bushwalkers to stay vigilant

A Perth woman who was forced to sleep in a cave in a freezing mountain range after injuring herself on a hike has urged others to stay vigilant as thousands descend on WA’s national parks as the weather warms up. Robyn Boulet was on a three-night hiking expedition through the Stirling Ranges with four other friends in May, when she snapped her ankle just metres from their camping cave. The group had been hiking through dense bushland for about seven hours when disaster struck about 5pm. “I didn’t slip and fall over — I literally slipped off this rock and fell down on my foot, I would have fallen about 15 to 20cm and that’s when I broke my ankle,” Ms Boulet told The West Australian. “My big adventure of sleeping in a cave and doing an overnight hike was ruined by one stupid step that I took out of the 40,000 steps that we probably took that day.” The 58-year-old was later told she had broken three bones to the point they had become completely “unattached”. Shocked and in agony, Ms Boulet hobbled to the cave as her friends desperately tried phoning emergency services. But the Department of Fire and Emergency Services said they could not send a rescue team until the morning because it was getting dark. Miraculously, Ms Boulet did not let herself panic and spent a sleepless night — drugged up on just Panadol and Nurofen — tucked in a cave. “I didn’t get any sleep, I got myself into a position, but after an hour I had to move because it was putting pressure on my leg,” she said. “I couldn’t do anything, I couldn’t panic, I thought, ‘If I panic and start crying, I’m just going to get myself into a state and spiral.’ “I thought, ‘What would my mother be saying?’ she’d be saying, ‘Breathe Robbie, just breathe’, and so that’s what I did.” The following morning, Ms Boulet and her group were greeted by about 10 SES volunteers who helped lift her onto a stretcher and carried her through about 150m of thick bushland. From there, she was winched to safety by the RAC Rescue Helicopter where she was met by multiple paramedics. “When we saw (the SES) come with their stretcher ... it was like, ‘hooray,’” Ms Boulet said. “They were all amazing — the SES volunteers all had plans for that Saturday morning, but they changed their plans for me which was incredible.” Once in the helicopter, Ms Boulet was given appropriate medical attention before being air-lifted to Albany. “When the paramedics came, they were like, ‘here’s the whistle’, but that didn’t even touch the sides for me ... they were giving me some stronger medication to curb the pain,” she said. “I was very relieved to be in the helicopter, because I thought there was no way that they could have carried me out, because the Stirling Ranges are steep and it’s beautiful and unforgiving terrain. “I was just looking around — I had never been (in a helicopter) before, and I was just so lucky to be able to see the Stirling Ranges from the air.” Despite the ordeal, Ms Boulet said she and her hiking group were “well prepared”, adding that they were equipped with food, water, first aid and wet weather gear. “We were really careful in making sure that we were fully equipped with all the right equipment,” she said. “We were planned to the point that we had a meeting before we left (about) who’s got the first and and what food have we got.” DFES Superintendent Wayne Green, of the Great Southern region, commended Ms Boulet and her hiking group for their high level of preparation. “Unfortunately, things did go bad, but because of their level of preparedness it wasn’t an emergency, and they were able to bunker down that afternoon and see through the night,” he told The West Australian. “(Our) planning went into getting our volunteers up their first light in the morning, we got Robyn to a nice clear area where the helicopter could get in, and then our rescue helicopter came in and extracted Robyn.” He said being prepared was the difference between an emergency or assistance operation. “Unfortunately, it’s those that aren’t as prepared that cause the greatest risk, not only to themselves, but also our first responders,” he said. “If people aren’t prepared, something that could have been avoided, like a simple injury, can sometimes turn into an emergency. “That’s when we’ve actually got to put our responders at risk, whether it’s flying the rescue helicopter in conditions that are marginal, or our volunteers walking up into the bush and searching for these people.” Supt. Green said hikers should always be equipped with food, water, first-aid and an electric power bank. “Power supplies are light weight and they fit into a pocket, but they can be really significant with maintaining communications, especially if people are going to stay out for a longer period of time,” he said. “If things go bad, it’s a great form of communication, and we can also use that to locate them as long as they stay in that place. “You can also hire personal locator beacons for periods of time ... these are brilliant if it is a true emergency, because once they’re set off, they alert us straight away and they alert us of the location.” He urged bushwalkers to consider their physical limits and check the weather, adding that fronts can “move a lot quicker than what was anticipated”. “I really encourage people to go out to this magnificent State of Western Australia, it’s beautiful and we want people to go and explore it,” he said. “But do your research and understand your capabilities and match that to the level of risk or the level of extreme walks that you’re going to be on. “I think one of the biggest issues is that people underestimate the terrain that they’re going on, and the distance it actually takes and the energy that zaps out of them to fulfil their adventures.” Ms Boulet warned hikers to be plan ahead before venturing outdoors this spring, and said accidents could happen anywhere. “Make sure you’ve got the right gear to begin with,” she said. “Accidents do happen, you just need to take it in your stride — for me, it was a wrong step ... this rock that I stood on seemed like a flat obvious rock, but it wasn’t.” She urged trekkers to remain calm, adding that “help will come”. “I worked at DFES many years ago ... so I knew what these people were capable of,” she said. “We’re so lucky to be living in this State and have all these services like the rescue helicopter, SES volunteers and police, who all work together for the good of the community.” As for Ms Boulet’s next hiking adventure, she said, “I’ve got unfinished business”. “I’ll have to speak to my husband, he’ll probably have to come with us next time,” she said.