Valdas Bieliauskas, a Lithuanian traveller who lost his leg in Tasmania last November, is back in Lithuania and tells his story to LRT RADIO. His rescue operation lasted almost 24 hours and is considered one of the most difficult in Tasmanian history.
Bieliauskas says he is still trying to get used to missing one leg, even though there is no pain and he feels fine. Doctors in Tasmania, he says, did their best to patch him up well before sending him off to rehabilitation.
Twenty-two hours in water
Australia was the last continent he hadn’t visited, Bieliauskas tells LRT RADIO, and that’s why he went there last November.
“Our leader’s idea was to raise the [Lithuanian] flag after we sail the river. That was never accomplished, because we never crossed the river because of this incident,” says Bieliauskas.
The accident occurred when the group was trying to carry their boats across the river rapids.
“I had to jump over to help. Somehow, the jump didn’t go well and I fell into the water. Initially, it seemed like a calm spot, but there were currents under water […]. And there, under the water, my foot got stuck between rocks,” Bieliauskas recalls.
The foot was stuck hard and his friends tried in vain to get it out using ropes. Eventually, they decided to send an SOS signal. “Thank God we had the inReach communicator, which can send an SOS signal via satellites to rescuers,” says Bieliauskas.
The rescue helicopter arrived an hour later. The rescuers tried everything to free the man.
“They even brought 50-tonne hydraulic equipment. They tried to widen the rocks where the leg was stuck. But they said, it won’t move,” Bieliauskas recalls.
He stayed in the water for 22 hours while the rescuers were trying to free him. “I was wearing a neoprene suit, luckily, I could stay a long time.”
The water temperature was about 12–13 degrees, he says, but the neoprene suit was 5 mm thick, which helped.
“But still, after 22 hours in the water, I was risking hypothermia. In the end, the rescuers said – it’s either your foot or you’re stuck here. I had to make a decision,” he says.
In a coma for three days
Bieliauskas admits that he does not remember what happened after that, because the rescuers gave him painkillers.
“One of the rescuers had a knife with a saw blade and was cutting. It was a small knife, and I can’t imagine how they could perform an amputation with such a knife. But it was done and I was pulled out without a leg.”
Bieliauskas’ was in hypothermia, his body temperature had dropped to 26 degrees and his heart stopped.
“They put a resuscitation machine on my chest which does resuscitation automatically. My heart, they said, was still for an hour,” he says.
He was transferred to a helicopter and taken to a hospital, all the while the rescuers continued his resuscitation.
He was admitted to the intensive care unit at Hobart Hospital.
“They said that was it, there was no hope.” For a while, Bieliauskas was on life support.
He stayed in a come for three days.
When Bieliauskas opened his eyes, he couldn't believe he wasn’t still dreaming.
“Suddenly I wake up and I can’t believe that what I’m seeing is not the nightmares I had when I was in a coma. I thought I was still dreaming. But here I was, awake.”
He says his doctors were amazed he survived.
“They say, well, strong legs. In Lithuania, I used to run eight kilometres every day to help me sleep better. That, it turns out, helped. The blood vessels in my legs were strong and it helped me to come out of the coma, to recover,” the man comments.
After the accident, Bieliauskas’ passion for water sports did not go away and he says he plans to keep doing it.
“This journey is unfinished. The mission to raise the tricolour flag has not been accomplished. I say that it will still have to be finished, maybe in 2026,” he says.
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