Bear Grylls’ skills saved Briton lost in outback
A British man who spent three days lost in the Australian outback survived by eating bugs and flowers and burying himself in the sand, a technique he learnt from watching Bear Grylls on television. Anthony Collis, 32, was eventually discovered barefoot, sunburnt and “very thirsty”.
A BRITISH man who spent three days lost in the remote Australian outback survived by eating bugs and flowers and burying himself in the sand, a technique he learnt from watching Bear Grylls on television.
Following an extensive search, Anthony Collis, 32, was discovered barefoot, sunburnt and “very thirsty” in a rugged stretch of the Pilbara region in north-west Australia.
He disappeared during a journey with his girlfriend Debbie Blomfield, 39, from their home city of Perth to Darwin. About half-way into the 2,500mile trip through some of Australia’s most isolated territory, the pair reportedly had an argument and separated, abandoning their utility vehicle which had apparently become stuck in the red sand.
Miss Blomfield walked for five miles and arrived, dehydrated and disoriented, at a remote mining camp, where she reported that Mr Collis was missing. A search involving planes, helicopters, four-wheel drives and Aboriginal trackers promptly found their vehicle and then discovered some of Mr Collis’s clothing and equipment.
But he did not appear in the heat-detecting devices used by search officials, who assumed he was dead. It emerged later that he did not show up on these devices because he had buried himself in the sand and foliage to keep himself warm during the freezing nights.
Police said he told them he had credited his survival skills to Grylls, who is known for his television programmes in which he visits inhospitable places and eats insects and even droppings to survive.
Following a three-day search, police officers eventually found him on Sunday after they spotted a trail of footprints in the dirt and then heard him calling out. He was found less than two miles from his vehicle.
“I think he was fairly weak at that point in time but thankfully he was heard,” said Acting Superintendent Garry Kosovich, from Western Australia police. “He was certainly very thirsty and he was pleased to be found.”
Mr Collis’s mother, Karen, declared her relief and thanked search crews for finding her son. “You are our heroes,” she wrote on Facebook.
Mr Collis, from Westbury in Wiltshire, has reportedly been living in Australia for several years.
Police are investigating the reasons for the pair’s decision to separate.
Mr Collis was flown by helicopter to a hospital in central Western Australia.