A young Queensland hiker has defied the odds, surviving a terrifying 80-metre fall from the summit of a mountain during his first ever solo expedition.
A Solo Hike Turns Into a Nightmare
Jake McCollum, an 18-year-old real estate agent from Bundaberg, was enjoying the view from the top of Mount Walsh near Biggenden last November. He was taking photos when disaster struck. Mossy rocks, still wet from overnight rain, crumbled beneath his feet. In an instant, he was falling.
"Literally seconds later, I fell," McCollum recalled. "There was nowhere to go but down. I kind of knew it was going to happen before it happened." He described a harrowing descent down the steep drop-off, with little to break his fall apart from a single tree near the bottom.
"For most of it I was falling and I landed with a thud on my back," he said. The impact left him "pretty banged up" and struggling to breathe. In those first moments, he believed his life was over. "I didn't really think it was survivable," McCollum admitted.
The Critical Call and Beacon That Summoned Help
Despite his injuries, McCollum managed to crawl over rocks to retrieve his backpack, which had been flung off during the fall. Inside was a crucial piece of equipment: a personal locator beacon (PLB). He activated it, sending a distress signal that was picked up by authorities in Canberra.
His phone was smashed, but hearing his AirPods ring, he found them and connected a call to his mother, Rachel. "Mum, I'm hurt really bad," was the faint message she heard. Rachel stayed on the phone with her son for more than five hours as he lay injured in 36-degree heat with no water.
From her home, Rachel acted as a vital link, relaying information to Queensland Police Service scene coordinator Greg Manskie while doing everything she could to keep her son calm and conscious. "I don't know how many times he said during that phone call: 'I think I'm going to die'," Rachel said.
Dramatic Helicopter Rescue and Recovery
Rescuers from LifeFlight, guided by the PLB signal and Rachel's directions, located the remote site. Doctor Harvey, flight paramedic Michael Porter, and rescue crew officer Alexander Bartolo winched down 150 metres to reach McCollum.
"We were surprised he was alive, given the story we'd been told," Doctor Harvey said. "So, we were very relieved to find him awake, conscious and talking."
McCollum suffered severe injuries in the fall, including:
- A fractured spine
- Broken ribs
- Internal bleeding
- A head laceration and concussion
He was airlifted to hospital and spent several days recovering. His family is overwhelmed with gratitude for the rescue crews and the outcome. "Something massive has happened to our family and we are one of the lucky ones," Rachel said. "We get to hug our child and say goodnight to him."
The incident serves as a powerful reminder of the dangers of solo hiking and the life-saving importance of carrying emergency communication devices like a PLB in remote Australian terrain.
