Buddie Chris is the hero of the Outback
Cop rescues gran who had been stranded for three days
A Buddie cop Down Under has been hailed a national hero after rescuing a grandmother who was stranded in remote Outback for three days.
Sergeant Chris Martin, 35, who left Paisley for Western Australia ten years ago, hit the headlines after leading a dramatic rescue to save the stricken 74-year-old from remote bushland.
Karen Neu crashed her car as she travelled from Perth, where she had recently buried her husband, to her home near the remote town of Mullewa and became stranded.
Former Glennifer High pupil Chris sprung into action with colleagues as they tried to find the vulnerable driver when her daughter raised the alarm.
The dad-of-two explained: “I received a phone call from a lady called Heather Neu from the Perth area who expressed her concerns regarding her mother, Karen Neu, because she hadn’t heard from her in three days.
“Karen had recently lost her husband of 53 years and had travelled to the Perth area to bury him and spend some time with her daughters.
“Karen left on the Friday and stated she would call her daughter on her arrival back to Mullewa.
“We found out that the last contact with Karen was via a brief mobile phone call to her daughter Heather.
“At that time Karen explained that she was somewhere in the Mullewa area, believed to be somewhere near the caravan park, however this couldn’t confirmed as the phone line was unclear and broken.
“When Heather could not confirm her mother’s location for two more days, she contacted the police.”
Chris, who joined Strathclyde Police in 2004 before taking the plunge to move down under in 2008, was growing increasingly concerned for Karen’s safety and launched a search effort.
After enquiries in the area, Chris established that Karen must have driven off course on her way home and drafted in the help of local land owner, a fellow Scot.
Douglas Reid was able to help locate Karen’s house, but there was no sign of her.
“My concerns for Karen intensified, as were had still not found any evidence of her in the area and having just travelled through what I would regard as difficulty heavy terrain.
“I was concerned how she, as a 74-year-old elderly lady would have managed it,” he added.
“After some discussion with Dougie, we decided to back track along an area known as Hackett Creek, again a dangerous area for stray wild dogs, kangaroos and cattle.
“The creek bed itself hasn’t seen water for a number of years, however, was still fairly large and several persons in the past had fallen foul to its dangers with broken down cars and unpredictable terrain.
“We had now been searching for about two hours when the weather was beginning to turn for the worse, heavy rain, again making the terrain difficult to navigate.
“At about 9.30pm while passing Hackett Creek, I observed a white motor vehicle in the distance.
“We drove straight up to the vehicle and observed it had crashed and become tangled in a wire fence and bogged down on a tree stump behind the rear axle, preventing the car from moving.”
Chris, whose mum Pat still stays in Paisley, feared the worst as he pulled up to Karen’s car.
“My initial concerns was this female was dead.
“I immediately banged on the window and to my surprise this elderly lady awoke from her sleep.
“I asked what her name was and she replied it was Karen Neu.”
He said: “I immediately opened the car door and gave her a big hug and told her she would be safe.
“We got Karen out of the car and provided her some minor medical assistance and water.
“Dougie was particularly emotional having found Karen safe and well.”
A delighted Karen was taken to hospital to be checked over after running low on water and food, but was thankfully fine, thanks to Chris’ heroics.
The incident hit the national news, national news stations Channel 9 and Channel 7 carrying the story along with a host of other media outlets locally.
Chris and wife Karen, are expecting a third child in September, who will join big brother Lewis, four, and big sister Charlotte, two.