Former alpine bus driver with years of experience negotiating icy conditions, Jonathon Evans, was travelling down the Great Alpine Road last September when he lost control and slid off a cliff.
The 45-year-old said he remembers the horrifying moment an ill-timed gust of wind swept his car sideways, resulting in him rolling 300m until the vehicle came to rest on its roof.
Miraculously, Jonathon survived the ordeal and managed to crawl out of the car despite severe injuries to his head and chest, and multiple fractures. In -4C temperatures, he lay in the post-blizzard snow and waited for a rescue team he wasn’t sure would come.
“I wasn’t expecting to make it to be honest. I reconciled with the fact of where I was, the conditions and the shape I was in. I was ready to freeze,” Jonathon said.
Jonathon was stranded for about 45 minutes before a passer-by on the mountain noticed the swerved tyres tracks in the snow.
Jonathon was rescued after his car skidded off the road down this cliff
The curious bystander ventured down the embankment, saw Jonathon and called Triple Zero (000), which launched a multi-agency response.
Responders at the scene would later estimate that another 15 minutes of snowfall would have blanketed the tyre tracks.
Ambulance Victoria (AV) Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance (MICA) paramedic Mark Eddey was the only paramedic able to access Jonathon and said it was his most memorable case in his 25-year career.
“There are a few times in a paramedic’s life where you stop and think, ‘if I wasn’t there, this person wouldn’t have survived’ and this was that job for me,” he said.
“There was debris everywhere and he was blue, not moving. It was the first time I’ve had to put an IV in someone’s hand and brush the snow away.”
Jonathon meets Mark Eddey, the MICA Paramedic who saved his life after his car
slid down a cliff in icy conditions.
With the darkness of night setting the scene, Mark treated Jonathon for two hours in pelting snow before a vertical rescue crew was able to bring him up the mountain.
In addition to AV’s first responders, a team of more than 30 emergency services workers, including State Emergency Services (SES) helped the Coburg man through the five-hour nightmare.
With Jonathon hauled to the top of the cliff, Mark believes he was only half an hour away from succumbing to hypothermia.
He was transferred to Bright where paramedics reassessed and rewarmed him before transporting him to Wangaratta Hospital in a critical condition.
AV Hume Regional Director Narelle Capp said Victoria’s alpine areas were popular at this time of year with many locals and tourists flocking to the region, but it can be dangerous, even for seasoned skiers.
“It can be extremely difficult to locate patients in remote conditions and we know that time is of the essence. We encourage anyone going to the snow to be prepared and aware that the weather conditions change quickly,” she said.
“Carry a phone, keep a map on hand, tell someone where you’re going and know basic CPR.
“In the event of an emergency, call Triple Zero (000) and, if possible, organise a friend or bystander to meet paramedics to take them to the patient.”
Jonathon is still on his rehabilitation journey but is slowly understanding he’s been given a second chance against the odds.
