Butcher turned helicopter pilot Matt Gane had the odds stacked against him when his Robinson 22 helicopter crashed in a remote corner of the Northern Territory.
Unconscious but breathing when a stockman pulled him from the crash, Matt suffered a litany of injuries – bleeding on the brain, broken pelvis, an injured right arm similar to a stroke victim and post-traumatic amnesia – while mustering on Kiana Station, 90km south of Borroloola, and hours from nowhere.
But the friendly, likeable pilot has overcome the odds, surprising his rescuers and medical staff, family and friends. Last week he celebrated 12 months since that fateful afternoon.
“I don’t remember any of the crash,” said Matt, originally from Herberton in Far North Queensland. “I remember leaving home that morning and that’s it...it was like I went to sleep and woke up but five weeks had gone.”
It’s left up to Matt’s partner Georgia Knight to tell the spine tingling story of how it took three aircraft more than 10 hours from the first emergency call to arrival at Darwin Hospital, in what was the largest rescue mission for CareFlight Top End.
After being pulled from the wreckage, station managers Morgan and Nicole Lorimer kept Matt stable. “They did a fantastic job,” Georgia said.
But Matt’s fight for survival was only just beginning.
A paramedic was flown from the nearby McArthur River Mine to the crash site at the same time a CareFlight rescue helicopter with a medical team aboard began the three hour flight to the scene. A CareFlight Kingair B200 air ambulance was dispatched to the mine airstrip to fly Matt to Darwin.
Georgia said Matt was on life support for eight days, with the early prognosis not good.
On day three he got pneumonia. Doctors told Georgia there was a one in three chance of him waking up and making a good recovery, not waking up or waking up and being brain dead.
Six weeks on, the couple moved to Adelaide for Matt to continue rehabilitation, and in March this year, they returned home to Katherine. Matt, who worked in Blackall previous to his move to the Territory, has since returned to light duties with North Australian Helicopters.
But its been far from plain sailing for the 31-year-old, with mental demons equally as challenging as his physical shortcomings. “The main problem I have is fatigue management,” Matt explained. “It was great to come back to a home environment, at same time it was upsetting because the last time I was here I was the old Matty and could do a lot more.”
Moving slower and with less strength, a simple fencing task proved to Matt that his rehabilitation was more than just physical.
“I went to undo a tire wire and I didn’t have the strength in my fingers to undo a piece of 10 gauge wire,” Matt said. “Then my brain started telling my body, you are useless ...that started getting to me. I didn’t want to talk to anyone and tried to tough it out but ended up in a worse position.
“When you have a brain injury there is just so many things that fight against each other.
“This last 12 months of rehab is the hardest thing I have ever had to achieve but I’m so happy and grateful I get a second chance.
“Being brought up in the country where you only get out of something what you put in, I’ve been giving it everything to try and get back.
“It’s been bloody hard but it’s onwards and upwards from here.”
Matt is hoping to sit a medical late next year to apply for his pilot licence again and is looking forward to getting behind the controls again.
While there’s many people he needs to thank, there are two that come to mind automatically – CareFlight Top End and his partner Georgia.
“It’s because of CareFlight and what they achieved on that day that I get a second chance,” Matt said.
“I can still walk and talk and do everything.”
Matt and Georgia have forged a close relationship with the CareFlight team.
Matt took on an ambassador role with the organisation this year, guest speaking at fundraising events and most recently competing at and winning a fundraising golf tournament with a team which included one of the medical staff who stayed with him during the entire 10 hour ordeal.
As for Georgia – she’s been a rock.
“I can never repay her either,” Matt said.
“She has been there since day one; its unbelievable.”
