Title – Missing backpacker is found alive / Gap-year teenager who was given up for dead walks out of the Bush
Source – www.bbc.co.uk / The Times
Date – 15th July 2009 / 16th July 2009
This story is set to run and run, the problem is which story it is which will run? A story of extraordinary survival; a story of doubt and mistrust; a story of great luck; a story of ignorance and stupidity; or a story of the heroics of the Australian teams who were out looking?
Everyone is going to take their angle and the media hype has already started; I watched a Sky News ‘Exclusive’ last night which was no doubt handsomely paid for.
I have to say I feel very uncomfortable with the whole situation; I am not suggesting that this was a hoax, how would I know? I am not suggesting that Jamie Neale is telling lies or spinning his own story and for me these are really not the important factors. However I wholly understand the local feeling, that profiting from the strong sits very uncomfortably when so many local resources went into the search, when searchers were themselves hurt and when goodwill shown is taken for granted.
There are many concerns that we should have:
The first is that unless any profit generated goes towards the costs until they are paid and maybe even beyond to show gratitude for the time and effort put into the search, much of the goodwill (and let’s not forget that many of those searching were volunteers putting their own safety at risk) will be lost. Local people will be much less enthusiastic in future to mount these sorts of operations.
The second is that a perception is given that this was not as perilous as it was and that other travellers think they can profit from such situations themselves. In an age of celebrity, too many people want their 15 minutes and this should not be seen as a way of getting that.
The third is that we don’t brush over the errors that Jamie made which led to him being in this situation in the first place. Watching a few episodes of Ray Mears (great as he is) or some of the other more ‘high octane’ survival specialists, in no way guarantees your survival. I’m not saying it will not help, but it is a little like using a plaster to fix a fracture…
There is talk of Jamie now going into all sorts of projects, no one will be surprised to see the book, dvd, magazine and TV appearances; there was even talk already of him holding talks on survival skills…. All a little premature I think, it took Ray more than ten days to learn his skills.
Spending two weeks lost in the Blue Mountains in winter is no joke, the Australian Search & Rescue crews know their stuff and if they were on the verge of giving up the hunt, then you can be sure the chances of survival are slim.
It is so important for travellers to realise that the UK and what they are used to at home is one of the safest environments in the world and that we have some of the best facilities for dealing with people in distress. We are a small country, dwarfed by somewhere like Australia, searching and finding people who are lost is made easier by our relative size. If you get lost in the outback or in a jungle being found or finding your way back is really not straight forward and often results in people never being found.
On a trip to
Madagascar in 2003 I went in search of the elusive Red Lemur, deep in the jungles in the north of the island. With two villagers as guides, I trekked for several hours along single tracks. I was acutely aware that these tracks while easily distinguishable while you were on them, effectively disappeared once you wandered more than 5 meters off them. When one of my guides finally found two red Lemurs high in the canopy, the chase to get a good view was on. Only being able to hear the second guide by his animal calls we scrambled off the track to catch up with him, fighting our way through the sometimes dense undergrowth, sliding down muddy banks and using jungle vines to climb up the other side. When we eventually caught up with him and looked up, there was the most magnificent sight of two Red Lemurs casually foraging.Source – www.bbc.co.uk / The Times
Date – 15th July 2009 / 16th July 2009
This story is set to run and run, the problem is which story it is which will run? A story of extraordinary survival; a story of doubt and mistrust; a story of great luck; a story of ignorance and stupidity; or a story of the heroics of the Australian teams who were out looking?
Everyone is going to take their angle and the media hype has already started; I watched a Sky News ‘Exclusive’ last night which was no doubt handsomely paid for.
I have to say I feel very uncomfortable with the whole situation; I am not suggesting that this was a hoax, how would I know? I am not suggesting that Jamie Neale is telling lies or spinning his own story and for me these are really not the important factors. However I wholly understand the local feeling, that profiting from the strong sits very uncomfortably when so many local resources went into the search, when searchers were themselves hurt and when goodwill shown is taken for granted.
There are many concerns that we should have:
The first is that unless any profit generated goes towards the costs until they are paid and maybe even beyond to show gratitude for the time and effort put into the search, much of the goodwill (and let’s not forget that many of those searching were volunteers putting their own safety at risk) will be lost. Local people will be much less enthusiastic in future to mount these sorts of operations.
The second is that a perception is given that this was not as perilous as it was and that other travellers think they can profit from such situations themselves. In an age of celebrity, too many people want their 15 minutes and this should not be seen as a way of getting that.
The third is that we don’t brush over the errors that Jamie made which led to him being in this situation in the first place. Watching a few episodes of Ray Mears (great as he is) or some of the other more ‘high octane’ survival specialists, in no way guarantees your survival. I’m not saying it will not help, but it is a little like using a plaster to fix a fracture…
There is talk of Jamie now going into all sorts of projects, no one will be surprised to see the book, dvd, magazine and TV appearances; there was even talk already of him holding talks on survival skills…. All a little premature I think, it took Ray more than ten days to learn his skills.
Spending two weeks lost in the Blue Mountains in winter is no joke, the Australian Search & Rescue crews know their stuff and if they were on the verge of giving up the hunt, then you can be sure the chances of survival are slim.
It is so important for travellers to realise that the UK and what they are used to at home is one of the safest environments in the world and that we have some of the best facilities for dealing with people in distress. We are a small country, dwarfed by somewhere like Australia, searching and finding people who are lost is made easier by our relative size. If you get lost in the outback or in a jungle being found or finding your way back is really not straight forward and often results in people never being found.
On a trip to
Right there (as has happened on several trips) I realised I was 100% in the hands of other people. Had I lost my guides, there was no way for me to find the path or a way out of the jungle and had I hurt myself, help was a long way away. You can not always be 100% safe, sliding down a bank in the jungle of Madagascar is as likely to end in a twisted ankle as sliding down a slope in Dorset. It’s just that in Dorset my mobile phone calls for help which arrives like the cavalry; in Madagascar, my guides, my preparations and my kit go some way to helping protect me, but the cavalry is nowhere to be seen.
In the Blue Mountains there are systems in place to help protect hikers; simple steps all of which Jamie seems to have ignored, steps which would undoubtedly have speeded up his rescue. Registering his destination with his hostel, seeking advice from the National Parks and Wildlife Service and taking one of their free beacons, taking more appropriate equipment, understanding the environment and his own capabilities.… hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Independent Gap Year travellers are often referred to by the Foreign Office as the ‘Invincibles’ because they believe they can conquer the world almost without any forethought. Pride, peer pressure and boastability often get in the way of common sense. In a choice between luck and judgement, judgement is always the preferred option.
At Beyond The Blue (Safe Gap Year) our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety & Awareness Workshop (GYITSA) considers issues of Travel Safety, alongside sessions on Ethical and Responsible Travel, Travel Health, Travel Equipment, Travel Insurance, Destination Advice, Transport Options, Documentation, Travel Money and Insurance and more.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.
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