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004 // Jane in Spain - Alone with a broken leg image

004 // Jane in Spain - Alone with a broken leg

S1 E4 · Rescued: An Outdoor Podcast for Hikers and Adventurers
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Closer to Morocco than Madrid, the resort town of Nerja on Spain's southern coastline, draws visitors to its beaches, historic caves and mountainous national park that surrounds it.

In this episode, experienced hiker Jane takes us high up into the Rio Chilla, a beautiful, clear water walk-in canyon that's popular with families and tourists with a name that translates as "Screaming River". 

It's a trip that should have taken about 4 hours. But as you'll hear, took much, much more. Well-prepared and loaded with research, Jane shares her story of what she learned from a long, painful and lonely night when she found herself waking up to a dog licking her face, the threat of wild boar and what items she's added to her packing list since.

Her story highlights the value of:

  • research
  • telling someone where you’re going
  • choosing a hike to suit the plan
  • taking the right gear / being well prepared
  • acting fast to put on your warm layers
  • using a whistle to try and attract attention
  • keeping calm and using strategies to pass time/distract from pain
  • the value of satellite communications
  • adding an emergency blanket to a packing list

Visit the website for transcript.

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Transcript

Introduction and Podcast Focus

00:00:00
Speaker
Rescued is a podcast of conversations with rescuers and those who've been rescued. It's about the lessons we learn about ourselves, the places we go and why, without judgment, to help us have better adventures, manage risk and deal with the unexpected.
00:00:19
Speaker
Closer to Morocco than Madrid, the resort town of Nuhar on Spain's southern coastline draws visitors to its beaches, historic caves and mountainous national park that surrounds it. In this episode, experienced hiker Jane takes us high up into the Rio Chilla, a beautiful clear water walk-in canyon that's popular with families and tourists, with a name that translates as Screaming River. It's a trip that should have taken about four hours, but as you'll hear, took much, much more.
00:00:49
Speaker
Well prepared and loaded with research, Jane shares her story of what she learnt from a long, painful and lonely night when she found herself waking up to a dog licking her face, the threat of wild boar and what items she's added to her packing list since.

Jane's Hiking Background and Preparations

00:01:09
Speaker
Tell me your first memory of seeing mountains and what it felt like to walk in the mountains. I guess I've been very fortunate. I started travelling from very early age, backpacking when I was in my 20s, early 20s. But I think my earliest memory in terms of hiking in the mountains is probably
00:01:30
Speaker
as early as sort of 20 years ago when I first started to really get into hiking. One of my good friends asked me if I'd want to go to Nepal with her. So having never done any hiking before, she then took me up to Scotland to train. So that was a big culture shock. And that was how I got into hiking, really. Never looked back from that. Can you remember what it made you feel like when you first, so you went to Nepal? Can you remember what trek it was or what trips you did there?
00:02:00
Speaker
So I hiked to Everest Base Camp. That was kind of 20 years ago. I guess it's a lot busier now than it was then. And that was my first experience of trekking. It's nothing like jumping in at the deep end. And yeah, seeing the Himalayas was obviously just takes your breath away. The power and the beauty of the mountains, all the different colors. It was springtime, so all the rhododendrons were out in the lower valleys. And yeah, dealing with the altitude and then the culture and the people. It was an amazing trip.
00:02:31
Speaker
challenge in because I didn't know what to expect, never done anything like it before, physically demanding for me at that time. But yeah, I loved it. And what did you come back thinking from Nepal in terms of, you know, was this something you wanted to do more of or never want to do it again? Or what happened? What happened to your adventure gland? Yes, definitely. I always loved adventure in terms of adrenaline adventure, you know, to the ski and my teens and
00:03:00
Speaker
do various silly things, you know, like bungee jumping, all that sort of thing, travelling, but in terms of hiking adventures, that kind of wet my appetite for it and just built up my confidence from that Nepal trip, doing more hiking in the UK. In Wales, I just sort of lived in Bristol then, so I was near to the Welsh Hills, doing lots more different challenges and then going into Europe. So yeah, it's definitely started that love. And where are some of the other places you've hiked around the world that you mentioned then?
00:03:30
Speaker
So I've done quite a lot of things in Europe, quite a lot of the, you know, the big sort of trekking routes in the Tour de Mont Blanc and the Hope Route and GR20, but lots of smaller things as well. I lived in the French Alps for 13 years, lived and worked there. So I did a lot of things locally to that. I've been to Morocco, checked in Morocco and in Turkey. I've done quite a lot in South America as well, in Peru. I've been to Nepal a few times. I've been to New Zealand, did some trekking there. So yeah, I've been very lucky.
00:03:59
Speaker
So take me to March this year. How long had you been in Spain and how fit and active you were at the time? We've been traveling around for a while. We decided having done so many winters in the Alps and before that was in Canada. So I've done like about 15 back to back ski winters. So to do a winter in the sunshine and something different was what we wanted to do. So we headed down to southern Spain on the coast near inland from Mercy and the Nether National Park, there's some hiking there.
00:04:26
Speaker
And then we headed into Noor Ha. My husband works online, so hence why sometimes I go out on my own. Didn't know anybody in Noor Ha, so we'd gone out together but also mainly gone out on my own. There are two rules I have for myself when I go out on my own. One is to
00:04:42
Speaker
Always choose my roots carefully. So when I go to a new place I have these guidebooks and I read the guidebooks and do some research and I have various lists of hikes that I want to do and I categorize them, you know, one list with my husband, one with the dog, one on my own.
00:04:58
Speaker
And when I go on my own, it's very simple routes, always on a main route, never with any scrambling or exposure. And I've always done it that way, just for safety. I love doing more gnarly routes, scrambling and exposure, but only ever with other people.
00:05:14
Speaker
It sounds like you do smart research and you've got preparation. What other things do you normally do to prepare for going out on a hike? The fundamental thing is always tell someone where you're going. Obviously with my husband, I always tell him where I'm going. I had actually showed him on the map where I was going because obviously we weren't that familiar with the area. I'd done three or four hikes before this.
00:05:42
Speaker
over the few weeks we've been there. So I showed him where I was going. So it's sounding like you're ticking all the right boxes, like you're doing a lot of the right things. So what would you take with you? What kind of gear would you be packing?
00:05:54
Speaker
So I always have a spare battery charger in my bag because I rely on my phone for navigation. I also like to listen to music and I take lots of photos so you can easily use up the battery. So I always have power pack in my bag always. Food and water, a couple of layers, first aid kit. All that I had in my bag that day. I also had a spare pair of shoes and socks because I knew I was going to be walking in a river. Pain relief, sun cream, the usual things. Yeah.
00:06:24
Speaker
thinking about the route and you mentioned there, you knew you were going to get your feet wet. So tell me, how did you choose this particular route and tell us a little bit about what it was and what you were going to expect. I chose this route because, well, believe it or not, this canyon it was going to walk up through is the second biggest tourist attraction in there.
00:06:45
Speaker
So it's a popular route. I've been in the area in one of my previous walks on previous days, but I hadn't actually been at that canyon because it's so popular and beautiful. I'd read about it in both the guide books.
00:06:57
Speaker
It was quite a simple hike. A lot of tourists, not necessarily hikers, go up there, especially during the summer months when it's cooler in there. So I thought I'd go and check it out. It mapped a route. It goes up into the canyon and goes up and eventually joins or crosses a GR route, which is a main walking route.
00:07:15
Speaker
And I'd been along that route before on a different hike, so I'd actually crossed the canyon but not been down or up it. And then once I joined that route, I was then going to hike out to a mountain town called Figliana and call my husband to pick me up. It was only like a 10-minute drive, Figliana was only a 10-15-minute drive from there on out.

The Rio Chilla Hike: Beauty and Danger

00:07:34
Speaker
So that was the route I'd mapped out. And how long were you expecting the route to take?
00:07:40
Speaker
Well, like I said, I map it on my phone. So, you know, I knew it would take about four and a half, four to four and a half hours. You know, it's slow going in the county because you are walking in the river, even though it's only kind of just over boot height. The water is not deep, you know, it's still slow. And as you get higher up,
00:08:00
Speaker
probably pass where the tourists would go and get her up in the canyon. You then walk in kind of just stepping over boulders and things. So it can be slow going. How cold was the water? It was pretty cold, but a nice cold. It was a warm day. I had my hiking boots. I had proper hiking boots on. You know, it was going over the boot every now and again, but so obviously my feet were wet inside, but that was fine. I had shorts on.
00:08:28
Speaker
So, yeah, it was it was a nice temperature. You know, the canyon in some sections of it is so narrow you can touch either side with either arm with either hand. So it's that narrow and then eventually it gets wider.
00:08:42
Speaker
sort of lots of trees and a deep canyon in places, beautiful clear water. So yeah, it was very pretty. It just sounds beautiful Jane. You know, I can kind of picture it all in my head, adding it to my travel list now for Europe. So tell me what happened. So you're in the canyon and walking along with there are many people there at the start.
00:09:03
Speaker
So I passed a few people. There was a couple of people, one girl going in at the same time as me, and then I seen a couple of people coming back, passing me, going the other way, coming out of the canyon. Because a lot of people go in and just go up to one of the first pools of water and then come back out again. So I seen a few people. It was only a handful of people, to be honest. And after, I don't know, an hour and a half, I didn't see anybody.
00:09:27
Speaker
Massive thanks for the support from the team at Patti Pallon, who since 1930 have been leaders in travel and outdoor adventure. In fact, did you know that Patti himself, a member of the Sydney Bushwalkers Club, was a volunteer in the original Search and Rescue Arm of the Federation of Bushwalking Clubs in New South Wales? Hmm, nice one Patti. It all sounds like a perfect day out so far. What happened next?
00:09:52
Speaker
it was about 130 that I so basically I was in the water and I stood on a rock it wasn't a high rock I just stood on it to cross over the river and my foot slipped and it literally just slipped foot slipped off
00:10:09
Speaker
Well, both feet slipped off, but the right foot kind of, I guess, went at a funny angle. And I knew instantly, I broke my leg. I just knew it. I heard it and I felt it. Wow. And I was in the river. So I kind of pulled myself to the shore of the river. There was a little beach on the shore.
00:10:28
Speaker
shoved my head between my legs for a few minutes while the world was spinning until I conned and hadn't seen anybody for ages. There was nobody around. What went through your head in that instant, in that moment? Yeah, as I heard the crunch, I actually shouted out, no, no, no, no, no, no, because I knew
00:10:59
Speaker
I knew what that had broke my leg and I knew I was in a precarious situation at the location I was in. I knew it instantly. And then the next thought was trying not to pass out. Can you describe the scene around you? You said you're on a beach. What else are you seeing at that time and hearing and feeling?
00:11:20
Speaker
So yeah, it was a small kind of bank. There was boulders around me, lots of greenery. The river wasn't in a narrow part of the canyon by that point. Obviously there's a loud sound of water. The feeling right now of isolation.
00:11:44
Speaker
I got out my phone, then realized I had no mobile phone signal whatsoever. I pulled out three little words, and I kept playing with my phone, thinking there must be some way I can use the, because it was picking up GPS, because I could see on the map where I was, and I was very close to the GR route that I was going to take away from the canyon.

Accident and Immediate Aftermath

00:12:06
Speaker
But yeah, there was nothing, there was no signal at all.
00:12:12
Speaker
I started to kind of shout and blow my whistle of Osprey backpacks. I was blowing the whistle, thinking I'm near that trail. Maybe somebody is crossing that trail. It might hear me. But yeah, there was nothing. Nobody around. Can you talk me through the conversations you were having in your head to yourself? What was happening for you?
00:12:36
Speaker
I was actually calmer than what I thought it would be. I knew that I was told Paddy where I was going, showed him on the map. So I was saying to myself, well, I'm going to be here a long time, but he knows where you are.
00:12:53
Speaker
So you're going to be fine. They'll find somebody will come and get you. I knew that it's going to be a long time because now he doesn't know there's a problem yet. My first thought was, oh, God, I hope you don't get dark. But clearly, that was always going to be the case. So I was just trying to be positive, just trying to say positive, telling myself, look, I even spoke to myself out loud, Jane, you're going to be right.
00:13:21
Speaker
You're not going to die here. You've just broken your leg. Paddy knows where you are. He'll get help. It's all going to be all right. And that's kind of my mantra all the way through. I sang to myself a bit. I tried to stay warm because obviously very quickly I got cold. I had two layers in my bag, so I had like a obviously was wearing a t-shirt, but I had like a fleece hoodie in my bag and I had a shell, a waterproof shell.
00:13:47
Speaker
So I put that on straight away. They both had hoods because the bank of the river that was sat was in the shade. So even though it was a warm day, it was quite cold and obviously my body was going to shock as well. So yeah, quickly got cold. Yeah. My feet were where I zipped on the leg of my trousers on the good leg and changed the sock and the shoe on the good leg. So that was dry.
00:14:10
Speaker
I couldn't go anywhere near my broken leg. I couldn't even move it without its sheer pain. So I just kind of rested the leg of the trouser against my leg, trying to stay a bit warm, trying to keep it warm. But yeah, I still had the wet boot and top on that foot. It sounds like very calm and composed and well thought out and methodical
00:14:34
Speaker
Did you feel any of that at the time or were you, I mean, are you normally a very practical, pragmatic kind of a person? Yeah, I guess I am quite organized and quite pragmatic, I guess, yeah. And I guess nobody really knows how they react in that situation until you're in it. And if I'd have heard this story from somebody else, I think, wow, that must have been really scary or, God, I couldn't imagine it. But when you're in it yourself, you just deal with it.
00:15:04
Speaker
You said you felt isolation at that time. Did you feel any fear then? No, it's a funny thing because it's the first word that people use. You know, you must have been frightened or scared.
00:15:18
Speaker
But I wasn't, I think the best word to describe it was helpless. Isolated and helpless, really, rather than scared and frightened. Because I couldn't do anything to help myself. I couldn't, other than try and keep warm and wait for somebody to come and help me. And that's the worst feeling. Actually, no, the worst feeling was knowing what my husband was about to go through.
00:15:40
Speaker
That was the helpless thing. So can we talk about that for a minute? Had you guys ever discussed what he would do or you'd do in case you had been delayed on a walk or you had been lost or if you hadn't come back, had you ever had that sort of discussion?
00:16:02
Speaker
No, not really. Is the honest answer? We hadn't had that discussion. We'd always talk about timings and know that we're going to be late or change our route or whatever.
00:16:15
Speaker
we would message, but we'd never really discussed what we would do if this had happened. He was obviously expecting me to call between 3.30 and 4 o'clock for a lift. He tried to call me because he hadn't heard it from me and then he starts to worry. What was his actions that he took? What did he do?

Rescue Operation

00:16:41
Speaker
Do you know now the things that were going through his mind?
00:16:45
Speaker
Yeah, he obviously worried because this is unlike me, not, you know, not to message or because obviously there's various things that can change, you know, phone without a battery, although he knew I always carried a pack, you know, if I dropped my phone, could I not contact him for whatever reason? There's all these things going through his mind.
00:17:08
Speaker
He then went, I think he said about 4.30, he got in the car and went to the canyon, walked up to the foot of the canyon where the water starts himself. But then quickly realized that he didn't have a phone signal either. So to carry on walking up there with no phone signal wasn't a sensible thing to do if I was trying to contact him.
00:17:31
Speaker
So then he went back in the car, he drove up to Frigliana, which was where he was going to pick me up, just in case I was there. Couldn't find me. Come back down by which time is is starting to get dark. So he goes to the police station to report me missing. They put him onto the Garden of Seville, a different part of the police.
00:17:53
Speaker
Yeah, he said they were brilliant in there with him. They, you know, asked him a couple of questions, you know, had we had a row? Did I know anywhere else in the area? But very quickly took him seriously. And yeah, started to put a rescue team together to come and find me. He got sent back to the apartment where we were staying, just in case I come home. So yeah, he went through a living hell, really, imagining all sorts had happened to me.
00:18:18
Speaker
And how does he reflect on that time, those hours when he didn't know now? Have you had discussions about that? Yeah, we have. He obviously said it was pretty tough. He called my brother during the night because he felt that he had to speak to somebody from my family but didn't want to worry my elderly parents.
00:18:40
Speaker
Yeah, he said at that point he would have given anything for me to turn up with a broken leg. So yeah, it was tough. As the sun started to go down and as it's getting cooler, I'm imagining down on that riverbank, what were you doing to pass the time and were you conscious of the passing of time?
00:19:01
Speaker
The time kind of went slowly and went quickly, which sounds crazy, but, you know, went through a routine of rubbing my arms and my legs, trying to stay warm, singing to myself. Can you remember what you sung?
00:19:15
Speaker
So it's a funny story. I was singing Mamma Mia. Here I go again. Haven't heard that song in a long time. I've no idea why that came out of my head, but just kept singing it. Roll forward a few days speaking to my family and my niece. And I said I was singing. My niece says, oh, don't tell me you were singing Mamma Mia. I said, how on earth do you know that? And apparently I used to sing it to her when I was teaching her to ski when she was a little girl and she was scared.
00:19:49
Speaker
You started with those feelings of isolation and you didn't feel fear at first. Did you sort of feel waves of different emotions throughout the period of time you were waiting? I do remember feeling lots of different emotions. I just kept saying sorry to my husband. We know each other so well, I knew that help would be on the way.
00:20:12
Speaker
I guess maybe a bit of frustration for myself for slipping on such a stupid rock. You said it wasn't very big, so do you remember how tall it was? Was it as high as your knee? Not quite as high as my knee, no. Probably halfway up my shin, maybe. Isn't that the thing? You think of all the places you've walked around the world and all the
00:20:33
Speaker
the mountains you've climbed and the technical scrambles that you've done and all of that kind of, you know, experience and sort of muscle memory your body must have. Yeah, exactly. It's bizarre. The injury that I've ended up with is only something normally you would get from falling from a height. Just unlucky. Just one of those things. These things can come and get you when you least expect it.
00:20:59
Speaker
Yeah. So speaking of coming to get you then, how did the hours play out? So 1.30 ish, this all happened. Your husband, you know, goes and tries to find you at the end of the canyon, about 4.4.30. And then he was back home and the search had started. How long then? What happened next?
00:21:25
Speaker
So I believe that the guard is to build, they were putting together a rescue team, but some of the rescuers locally, but some of them come from Malaga. So it just takes time, as you know, you know, scramble rescuers in.
00:21:39
Speaker
wasn't an easy place to rescue somebody from either. And they didn't know whereabouts in the Canyon I was, obviously. A local man that lives in the last house where the Canyon starts, and he was the chap that found me. When they called him, he got his two dogs and he hiked up in the dark and he found me out 11.30 at night.
00:21:59
Speaker
I think I dozed off and all I knew was these two dogs licking my face and I could see a torch and he shouted and I shouted and yeah, he found me. Obviously I've never been so pleased to see somebody. I have a smiling face.
00:22:17
Speaker
So he had to leave me then to go and hike out to get a phone signal so he could alert everyone where I was. He tried to leave one of the dogs with me, but he didn't want to stay. And he said, you'll be OK, you'll be OK. It's just the wild boar around here. But I hadn't even thought about that. It's just the wild boar. That's fine. You'll survive the broken leg, but the wild boar might do you well.
00:22:45
Speaker
So he said, if you hear a rustling, just make lots of noise. So he goes and leaves me.
00:22:53
Speaker
Um, for about another hour. And then when he come back, he lit a fire to help warm me up. And then he just kept leaving me and hiking up, trying to find the rescuers blowing whistles to kind of alert him where we were. And then the rescue team was four guys came down and they were all in their wetsuits and with the stretcher. And whilst I was obviously delighted that I was going to be, that was being rescued. I was really dreading the move in me because I'd gotten in a position where I wasn't in too much pain.
00:23:23
Speaker
but they had a splint, they put a splint on my leg, put me in a stretcher. And then a mega rescue really, they had to carry me through the river over boulders and then they picked up a trail
00:23:36
Speaker
very steep trail, must have been a four or 500 meter climb up out of the canyon on the opposite side to where I would have gone. But they driven some rescue vehicles up a fire road on the other side of the canyon. So they were hiking me out to those vehicles. Took hours and hours. So like I said, the first chat found me at 11 30 and I think I got into the rescue vehicles around five o'clock in the morning. Oh my goodness. And yeah, those guys,
00:24:06
Speaker
unbelievable how they, the strength and they were obviously sweating and puffing and they have to keep putting me down every five or 10 minutes. And then other guys then joined them as we got higher up. So they were them not stopping as much and passing me like from one to the other. For me, I was obviously led, led in a stretcher. So all I could see is the sky. And it was a beautiful night. There was lots of stars and I could try to take my mind off the pain by looking at the stars going, Oh, it's a beautiful night.
00:24:36
Speaker
Yeah, finally we got to the vehicles, by which time I could then phone my husband.

Hospital Experience and Return to the UK

00:24:42
Speaker
And then they drove me down the mountain to a waiting ambulance. It was at the bottom of the mountain to take me to hospital. And I got into hospital about seven in the morning the following day. Thinking of your husband, how was that when you spoke to him on the phone?
00:24:57
Speaker
Um, quite emotional. I think it was the first time I shed tears hearing his voice. Yeah. And obviously for him as well. Um, cause he didn't know they'd found me till about one in the morning. I think he kept going back to the station for updates. At one point they got by a rate with him. I think because he was, he didn't realize that how long it would take to get me out. You know, I think that's something we don't often think about is the,
00:25:27
Speaker
We think the trauma happens to the person who has the accident, but we don't often think about the other people around that are also going through big emotions and traumatic experience as well.
00:25:43
Speaker
Yeah, I think in some respects it was worse for him because at least I know what had happened. I knew what had happened. I knew where I was. And like I said, I was very much that I'm going to be okay. Whereas he had no idea. He was thinking all sorts, as you would imagine. And what happened then that you went to, how far away was the hospital?
00:26:04
Speaker
So I went to a hospital near Malaga, so it was about half an hour in the ambulance. Didn't have a pleasant experience in the hospital, if I'm honest. The long and short of it was I had multiple fractures in my lower leg. Then I'd need surgery. Consultant came to see me and said that I could have surgery there, but it would be at least 10 days. And they would put a plate in and I'd have no weight bare on the leg for at least three months. I just didn't feel comfortable in there. Fortunately, I had travel insurance.
00:26:29
Speaker
So we were speaking to the travel insurance and I made the decision I wanted to be repatriated to the UK to have the surgery. Yeah, basically they plastered my leg with an open at the front so that I could fly. And then just discharged me the same day, discharged from hospital with no pain relief or crutches, but anyway. And it turns out I have three fractures, one of which is a spiral fracture at my tibia. So I've got my tibia, fibia, and a fracture in my ankle as well. Oh my goodness.
00:26:57
Speaker
So it was a proper job. You did well, Jane, but you did well on so many other things. You think about your preparation, your planning, the gear you had with you, all of these things. It's almost like you'd done just about everything you possibly could for a good outcome if you'd been there without the warm layers, without telling your husband where you were going.

Reflections on the Accident

00:27:25
Speaker
you know, you'd set yourself up in a good position. Yeah, I think the telling somebody where you're going is the key here, really. Because that could have been such a different story. If, if I'd have just gone off and gone for a hike and just wandered out, which would be quite easy to do. He would have even started to know where to look because there's so many options from there, you know. Yeah, lots of different trails. Yeah.
00:27:51
Speaker
Do you have a personal story about an incident or rescue during an outdoor trip when something didn't quite go to plan? Maybe you got lost, injured, let down by some gear, preparation or something else. Look, honestly, it can happen to any of us at any time, regardless of how experienced we are. And it's by sharing these stories and tales that we can all learn and help to avoid them in the future.
00:28:15
Speaker
So if that's you, I'd love to hear from you. So please drop me an email to rescued at lots of fresh air dot com. That's rescued with a D. So what's your rehab been like now? How many months down the track are you now? So it was a week after the accident. I went into surgery and I've had a titanium rod and pins put in my lower leg. That was nearly 12 weeks ago now.
00:28:39
Speaker
So I'm doing good, I'm walking again. Just under a week ago I got the crushes taken away. Obviously it's difficult, it's stiff. Unfortunately to get the rod in the leg they make an incision above your knee and the rod goes down through your knee joint so my knee is taken rid of fence to that.
00:28:59
Speaker
My right knee has always been an issue. I've had surgery on it in the past, so it's not happy generally anyway. Now it's had a rod shove through it, so it really isn't happy. Really not happy. No, really not happy. I had an x-ray last week and the fractures are healing really well. It's brilliant. I'm told I've got to give the knee time and be patient with it.
00:29:24
Speaker
because it is a big surgery and it's invasive. So yeah, just got to give it time. What about the other parts of you healing in terms of feeling confident to walk on wet rocks again or walking on trails again?
00:29:42
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I obviously can't wait to go back hiking again. It's what I love. At the moment, it's just, you know, concentrating on my recovery and just being able to walk normally. It's still a long road, but I'm definitely going to be back on the trails again. I will not be put off because like I said, it's just one of those things. It's just an accident. Could have tripped over a pavement.
00:30:05
Speaker
or a step in your house. It's just unfortunate. What do you think this experience has taught you about yourself? What did you learn about Jane? That I'm tougher than I think I am sometimes. That I can be stronger and have a strong peace of mind when I need to, quite a survivor. What about your husband? What's it taught you about about your husband?
00:30:31
Speaker
I was going to say how amazing he is but I knew that already. The way he handled the situation and also how he's looked after me ever since. I'm not a very patient patient so I've not been the easiest person to deal with.
00:30:47
Speaker
I'm a woman of a certain age, it's been off of HRT as well because of the surgery. It's not a no exercise and sitting on the sofa watching Netflix is not really me, so I've not been an easy person to deal with. What's it taught you about how you're going to change things? Or is it going to change the way you experience wild or natural places in the future or any particular thing that's changed?
00:31:15
Speaker
I have to be realistic to know that I'm going to be as nervous as hell going out for the first time again, going forward, but I won't let it affect what I do going forward. That'll just be a process, I think, you know, doing starting with walks I know very familiar with. I think there'll be more equipment that I'll have with me. So what I've already had for my birthday, a Garmin inReach satellite device.
00:31:40
Speaker
so that I'll never be in communicado again. Now, did you ask for that or did someone just buy it for you? I think me and my husband decided together that was what we were going to have. Excellent. Yeah. And he's also bought me a new iPhone as well. So I got a double satellite and things like I think I'll put a survival blanket in my bag from now on. And one thing for Paddy is
00:32:08
Speaker
which is an interesting thought. They kept asking him for a recent photo of me and also what I was wearing on the day. And of course, he didn't really take any notice of what I was wearing when I walked out the door. So maybe a quick photo, snapping a photo of someone walking out the door when they're on their own so that you've always got that to give to somebody. Yeah, it's a good lesson. I've not heard that one before, but it makes sense, you know.
00:32:31
Speaker
Yeah. What advice or what would you want to give to other people in your similar situation who were in a foreign country, didn't speak the language, loved the mountains or loved going hiking and went off by yourself? What would you want to say to them?

Advice for Solo Hikers

00:32:48
Speaker
Do your research, pick easy routes. Always tell somebody where you're going. It's that key one, really, and go prepared. And it's an interesting one, isn't it? Even when you're not in a foreign country, even when you're in your own country and in the hills that you're always in.
00:33:05
Speaker
it's so easy to twist your ankle or trip over and sprain your ankle and you could be sat out there for hours in a cold wind before somebody comes to help you. So I guess that's what made me think of always having things with you to keep you warm. Survival blankets. Yeah. Those space blankets, survival blankets, they're amazing things and so light and cheap. Yeah.
00:33:29
Speaker
in a situation, if you find yourself in that situation is to be positive and not panic really. My next question and probably in wrapping up James, when the bones are healed and where's the future adventures for you gonna take you? In terms of hiking plans, the next year I'm just gonna go with the flow and listen to my body.
00:33:47
Speaker
Long-term plan.

Future Hiking Aspirations

00:33:48
Speaker
My long-term goal, because I always like to have a long-term goal, and I think I need one at the moment, is going back to Nepal in the autumn of 2024. I'm planning to go back and do a trek in Nepal, so that's my long-term aim. That sounds a wonderful, wonderful aim to have, going the full circuit, hey? Back to where it all started. Yeah, definitely.
00:34:07
Speaker
It's a wonderful, wonderful story and thank you so much for sharing and for taking us into that beautiful canyon and the way you described it. It's selling it from a tourism perspective, fast healing and good healing to not just your bones but that old dodgy knee as well.
00:34:29
Speaker
Thanks Cara, lovely to talk to you. The rescued podcast is produced on the unceded lands of the Gundangara and Darug people of the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. I pay my respects to elders past and present and acknowledge their enduring connection to and care for country. Special thanks to our sponsors Patti Powen and to Jen Brown for production support. This has been a Lots of Fresh Air production.