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When I was a kid, I was obsessed with reading survival guides and fantasizing about how I'd survive scenarios like getting stranded on a desert island. I dreamed about building shelters out of leaves and sticks, purifying fresh water dug out of the ground, and writing SOS messages on the beach with palm leaves - not that I ever wanted to get stuck on a desert island, but if I did, I was ready. But as I grew older, I realized that the likelihood of me ending up in such a predicament was very low, and I let my survivalist skills lapse.
Fortunately, this group of Australian teenagers didn't follow my example. After suddenly becoming stranded on a remote Western Australia beach with no way home, the young teenagers called upon their survival skills to grab the attention of rescuers and get themselves saved!
As reported by @dailymailau , the three teenage friends became stranded on a remote beach near Pink Lake in Western Australia after their truck, which was not equipped with four-wheel drive, broke down in the sand. Though the boys weren't technically on a "desert island," they may as well have been for how remote and isolated they were. Unable to call or signal for help by traditional means, the boys opted for a classic desert island survivalist technique: they wrote "HELP!" in giant letters on the sand.
Related: Carnival Cruise Ship Rescues Stranded Kayakers in the Gulf of Mexico
Their plan worked quickly. Multiple pilots spotted their message and the broken-down truck while flying overhead, and radioed air traffic control , who in turn contacted WA police. With the help of multiple police departments and an AMSA Challenger jet, rescue teams soon pinpointed the GPS location of the trapped teens, swiftly sending rescuers their way.
Even the police officers had trouble getting to their location, and had to traverse part of the way by foot, but they eventually reached the teenage trio about six hours after they'd first been stranded. Had those kids not thought fast, they could have been stuck out there for much longer! Heading back towards civilization, teens and their rescuers had to abandon the stuck truck, which will hopefully be retrieved at a later date.
Staying Put in Survival Scenarios
Online, some people critiqued the kids for attempting to drive on a beach without 4WD, and sure, you could easily argue that they got themselves into that scrape- though thankfully, they were smart enough to get themselves back out of it. However, other critics wondered why the kids didn't just try to follow the road back into town!
That seems like an obvious solution, but in a true survival situation, things aren't always so cut-and-dry. First off, it's clear from the story that these kids were pretty well off-road by this point, and lost hikers are usually advised to stay put rather than wander directionlessly and risk getting more lost. Even if they could work their way back to the road, though, that still might not have been the best move. As Patrick McCarthy wrote for OffGrid Magazine , " hunkering down and making yourself as visible as possible" can help search and rescue teams locate you faster while you conserve energy- which is exactly what happened here!
The next time these kids attempt a remote beach day , I hope they drive a truck that's built for the task. Whatever these teens lacked in street smarts, though, they made up for in survivalist savvy. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to pick up an updated copy of my childhood favorite: The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook . Looks like I've got some brushing up to do.
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