Rescuers have relived the horrific moment they realised they would have to amputate a man’s leg to save his life while he was trapped in rapids in a remote part of Australia.
Lithuanian Valdas Bieliauskas was on a whitewater rafting trip on the powerful Franklin River, when he slipped while hopping from one boulder to another, falling chest-deep into the icy cold water and jamming his leg in a narrow gap between the boulders.
Despite the efforts of the others in his group, and then later rescuers, nothing they did could get his leg out. After hours of trying, the rescuers told national broadcaster the ABC they realised Mr Bieliauskas would have to lose his leg to leave the river alive.
“It was a big mental hurdle, realising that we were going to cut his leg off,” Intensive Care flight paramedic Rohan Kilham told ABC’s Australian Story programme. “But even if it all goes perfectly, he’ll never be the same again.”
After Mr Bieliauskas slipped and fell into the river on the November 2024 trip, his fellow rafters spent 40 minutes trying to lever him out of the gap with a paddle and ropes, before calling for help with a satellite phone.
As rescuers including police, paramedics and doctors arrived at the remote location, they tried everything from airbags, spreaders, a pulley system and hydraulics to get Mr Bieliauskas out.
“The rescuer even grabbed me by the waist to haul me up, but my leg wouldn’t budge,” Mr Bieliauskas told the ABC.
The hours stuck in the 8-10C water began to take a toll, despite Mr Bieliauskas’s wetsuit and regular hot food and drinks. He started to develop hypothermia.
“I began to think, maybe I’m destined to stay here, stuck, forever,” Mr Bieliauskas said.
Rescue teams worked through the night to try to get Mr Bieliauskas free of the fast-running water, and Surf Life Saving Tasmania swift water rescuer Adrian Petrie said they were determined to free him.
“We knew we were going to get him out; it was how we were going to get him out,” Mr Petrie said.
But by 4am, all forms of rescue had been attempted, and Mr Bieliauskas was still stuck and continuing to deteriorate.
Once rescuers had agreed their only option was amputation, Lithuanian rafter Arvydas Rudokas had to translate the plan for Mr Bieliauskas.
“Valdas asked, ‘So I will become handicapped?’ Maybe, Valdas. But if not, you will die here in this hole,” Arvydas told the ABC.
Tragedy struck a second time when the doctor initially meant to amputate Mr Bieliauskas’s leg slipped and fell, breaking his wrist. It meant another doctor had to be flown in, delaying the critical operation by hours.
Jorian ‘Jo’ Kippax ended up being the doctor charged with the fraught procedure.
“There was a moment, a real sense of, I really, really don’t want to do this,” he told the ABC.
Supported in the water by Surf Life Saving Tasmania’s Nate Welch while Mr Bieliauskas was given ketamine for the pain, Dr Kippax said he had to use ratchet straps as tourniquets and perform the amputation with bare hands as he had to work by feel underwater.
“Suddenly, he came backwards into my arms. I was waiting for a gush of blood, but there wasn’t,” he said.
“The entire procedure, although it felt a long time to me, only took about two minutes.”
Dr Kippax met Mr B after he awoke from his four-day coma and was recovering in hospital. He said it was an emotional reunion.
“I felt like I had to apologise,” he said. “We both looked at his leg, and looked at each other, and said, ‘I’m sorry, this is the way it is.’”
Valdas is now back home in Lithuania, and said he knew amputation was the right decision.
“I survived. I endured. That’s the greatest joy,” he said.
