Couple's desperate message for help after being trapped in mud for 26 hours
A couple who bogged themselves in mud while on a fishing trip in a remote part of Western Australia’s far north on Sunday were forced to resort to extreme lengths to alert rescue crews of their location.
Shantelle, Colen and their little dog, Ace, spent 26 hours stuck with their vehicle at Barra Hole near the Marralum Community on the Northern Territory side of the border, ABC Kimberly reported.
After failed attempts using rocks to try and dig the car out, the couple began lighting spot fires and wrote in giant letters the word “help” so planes passing above would be able to see them.
Injecting even more fear into their already bleak situation was the sight of crocodile tracks, with the couple terrified at the possibility of the tide bringing the reptiles closer to where they were.
They slept overnight in the car and rationed the small amount of food they had until miraculously a plane flying overhead noticed the fire and flew down to save them on Monday afternoon.
“We didn’t know that they’d seen us until they came lower to the ground. We jumped out of the car and waved them down. It was overwhelming, emotional, we were pretty happy we’d made it,” Colen told the publication.
Shantelle said she asked her family prior to their departure to raise the alarm if they were late to return home.
“We were pretty scared and worried, but we were just hoping someone would come,” she said.
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