“We’ve got you Brian, we’ve got you mate.” An exhausted and severely dehydrated Brain Brady looked up in disbelief, savouring the moment water touched his lips for the first time in days. The 72-year-old amateur prospector was found clinging to life by search crews following an unrelenting four-day search in the harshest of Mid-West outback terrain.
Brian and his two mates – Rob and Tom – arrived in Cue on Saturday 27 May 2023, with Brian eager to test his luck using his brand-new metal detector. Brian left camp alone about 3.30pm and set off on what would become the longest walk of his life. With his head down, engrossed in the beeping of his metal-detector, Brian’s campsite soon faded into the background. No hearing aids, no mobile phone and just half a bottle of water; as realisation of his predicament set in so did the unfortunate symptoms of vertigo. “Boy, it can be such a violent thing that vertigo,” Brian said. “I was adamant I had to go west and that's what I should have done but having more of that vertigo and stuff, I went east.”
Two hours after Brian left camp and as the sun was setting on Lake Austin, Rob and Tom finally called police. Local officers from both Mt Magnet and Cue were first on scene and immediately began a set of reflex search actions, saturating a 300m radius around his last known position.
Meanwhile, back at Geraldton, command structures and resources were being assigned to the search. Inspector Tony Jeavons would be deployed to manage the operation over the coming days. “On the briefing given to me by the family liaison officer I was a little encouraged that Brian held some basic bushcraft skills and a little water with him,” Inspector Jeavons said. “But given his age, diabetes and lack of knowledge of the area, I also held some grave concerns for him.”
It was on that first night Brian would formulate a plan that would greatly increase his chances of survival. Brian had made it to higher ground and a light in the distance would become a literal beacon of hope. “That’s my best bet, I have to get to that light,” Brian said. “I'm thinking it's a caravan...I just made up my mind that I'm going to sleep here and, in the morning, come daylight, if there's a van within hundreds of meters of me then I'll see it.”
At first light on Sunday morning, a Forward Command Post was established at Brian’s old campsite using the Mid-West Gascoyne Mobile Police Facility. Air support, three SES teams, an ATV, Mounted Section, local police EOU and TRG trackers were deployed to the scene. The trackers quickly got to work, providing significant tactical intelligence to the Forward Commander to help analyse Brian’s behaviours and formulate search plans.
“It became apparent from Brian’s behaviour on the first night that he acted as a Missing Prospector, wandering aimlessly trying to find his camp,” Inspector Jeavons said. “But on the second night he moved out onto the salt lake seemingly with a sense of purpose much like we would expect in a lost hiker.
“Looking more closely at what was driving this change of behaviour, we became aware of a night time navigation light at an old disused Comet Gold Mine some 50km to our north which seemed to suggest this might be the reason he was tracking north."
“This added another valuable piece to the intelligence puzzle were building on Brian.”
Every night, Brian would head for higher ground and look for hope in the distance. He would fall asleep with his metal detector facing the light to guide his travels for the next day.
“TRG trackers were constantly picking up his tracks, allowing us to deploy police and SES searchers to the north of his projected path in an attempt to box in his movements or at least restrict him moving outside of search area. But the area was vast, scrubby and difficult to move through,” Inspector Jeavons said. “By the fourth day the search effort was working against the clock and Brian’s time frame for survival was rapidly running out.
“All search resources were thrown into one last ditch effort to find him, including the use of a civilian helicopter.” About 11am that morning – with TRG about 1km to his south, a chopper in front and SES teams within 500m to the north – Brian was located by RESU officers. After spending four nights in the bush, he was alive but in very poor condition and desperate for the medical team to arrive. “There was a great feeling when the news came through at the Command Post,” Inspector Jeavons said.
Brian, a 72-year-old diabetic, is estimated to have covered around 27km during his ordeal. SES and TRG teams walked hundreds of kilometres in his wake, with mounted and air support covering hundreds more. “Jobs like these bring out the best in people, particularly police officers; no one complained, everyone stayed focused on their tasks and worked together with a sense of purpose,” Inspector Jeavons said. “Our days were very long and challenging but at the end of the day Brian got to go home to his grandchildren. That’s what counts. “Brian’s tenacity and determination to survive was matched only by our own determination to find him, and everyone should feel proud of their effort.”