TASSIE COURAGE

Mine shaft rescue hero tells: I’m scared of heights

A GEOLOGIST has told of how he abseiled down a 22m-deep mine shaft to try to save two colleagues — despite his fear of heights.

Lachlan Brown was working at the Mt Lyell mine in 2013 when two miners — Craig Gleeson and Alistair Lucas — fell down the shaft. He told an inquest yesterday: “The only way (to help) was to abseil. I’m terrified of heights ... (but) because it’s time critical you ... wrap a line around and get going.”

A TASMANIAN coroner has praised the efforts of two men who were involved in the rescue of two miners who fell down a 22m mine shaft when a platform they were working on collapsed.

Copper Mines of Tasmania workers Craig Gleeson, 45, and Alistair Lucas, 25, died after falling from the platform on December 9, 2013. Mr Gleeson died at the mine and Mr Lucas died in an ambulance.

Lachlan Brown, a geologist at Copper Mines of Tasmania’s Mt Lyell mine at the time, told the inquest into the deaths of Mr Gleeson and Mr Lucas — which is also examining the death of Michael Welsh, 53, who died six weeks later in a mud-rush at the mine — the only way to reach Mr Gleeson and Mr Lucas was to abseil down the shaft.

“The only way in my opinion was to abseil ... I’m terrified of heights,” Mr Brown said yesterday.

“I certainly didn’t have a safety line. Because it’s time critical you ... wrap a line around and get going.”

Mr Brown said rescuers knew that two men had fallen and one was still alive.

The man who was still alive was Mr Lucas.

“It was clear that his injuries were significant. Visually we could see quite a twisted body. It was obvious that he had some significant breaks,” Mr Brown said.

“He was quite lifeless initially. Our only treatment was to keep his airways open because he was coughing up blood.”

Mr Brown said rescuers gave Mr Lucas oxygen and noticed an improvement in his condition.

He said it was decided to bring Mr Lucas to the surface via a cage in the shaft, which he estimates would have taken a few minutes, because it would have been a very rough 5-8km drive in an ambulance.

“It’s the logical choice,” he said. “I stand by that option ... I stand by all the calls that were made.”

The inquest earlier heard comments from someone who criticised the rescue effort, including the choice to bring Mr Lucas out of the mine via the shaft.

Mr Brown said that person had inhibited the rescue effort at the time and had held a grudge against rescuers since.

Mr Brown said he would not wish a rescue effort involving a fatality on anyone, and he said for the rescuers working on December 9 it would have been their first experience in a real rescue.

He said the shock of dealing with the situation was “evident on some of their faces”.

“I’d covered over Craig with a blanket so they didn’t need to see him ... that affected a few of them but did it affect their [rescue efforts]? No,” he said.

Mr Brown also told the inquest he and colleague Robert Butterfield received a bravery award from the Tasmanian Minerals Council for their efforts, but that he had not wanted the award given the circumstances.

“You and Mr Butterfield acted with exemplary courage. Any award that you received was thoroughly deserved,” Coroner Simon Cooper said.

Copper Mines of Tasmania was convicted in the Burnie Magistrates Court in 2016 and fined $225,000 over the deaths of Mr Lucas and Mr Gleeson. The conviction was for failing to provide a safe workplace.

The company pleaded not guilty to the same charge in relation to Mr Welsh’s death and the case was dropped after evidence from a Workplace Standards investigator and mining consultant John Webber was disallowed.

The inquest continues.