6 days ago
Message on side of car on outback highway reveals scary reality
Despite the word 'help' being written over and over again on the dirt-splattered windows of Caleb Humphries' 4WD — and later spelled out using yellow tape — the 23-year-old was left for days on the Nullarbor without a phone signal, much food, or any assistance from fellow interstate travellers.
The driver was travelling across the country from Casino in New South Wales to Margaret River in Western Australia last month when his engine warning light flashed on. He pulled over and quickly learned a vital part of his motor had completely "melted".
"I thought I'd blown a radiator hose, but it turns out I had melted a tensioner pulley in the engine," he told Yahoo News.
After ransacking his car in an attempt to find something he could use as a makeshift part, he came up empty-handed. He covered his 4WD in his four-letter message and waited on the side of the road — one notorious for its remoteness. When several vehicles finally passed and he tried to wave them down, no one stopped to help.
It was then that he realised he was in trouble.
"I thought, I'm stuck, no one is stopping, I have no reception, and I can't contact anyone. I'm in a bit of a pickle," he recalled. He was stranded roughly 30 kilometres away from the nearest town, Madura, and decided against leaving his car to find help.
"It would have been a fair trek... [and] it's easier to locate a car than it is a person in the middle of the desert," he said, explaining his reasoning to stay inside his 4WD.
Young driver's loved ones 'panic' after no contact for over a day
Caleb broke down on the morning of Tuesday, July 29, and by lunchtime, his loved ones began to panic. The last they had heard from him was through a social media post that showed a picture of him pulled up by the side of the road.
"It was probably about 1 pm on Tuesday, and nobody had heard from him... That's when we all went into panic mode," Paula Molnar, Caleb's mum, told Yahoo News. In a desperate bid for help, a family friend posted a missing person notification on a local community page on Facebook. As day turned to night, there was still no word from him.
"You hear stories about what happens to people out there. It was total worry," Paula said, explaining she felt "helpless" almost 3,000 kilometres away in NSW.
Network of strangers helped to rescue the stranded driver
The following evening, as cars continued to speed past Caleb, Margaret River resident Bec Dale sat at home over 1,200 kilometres away. She spotted the missing person post on Facebook and decided to send it to a truckie friend she knows, Peter Rowling.
"I didn't know the kid, I didn't know the lady who put the post up. I just saw it and went, 'someone from here must be stuck. I'll flick that to Pete'. It just snowballed from there," Bec told Yahoo News.
Pete reached out to fellow truckie Chevy Hawkins who he had only met days earlier. Chevy happened to be passing through the Nullarbor that evening, and within an hour, Bec received word that they'd made contact with Caleb.
"My mate has a truck, he's got good lights and seen him quite easily," Pete told Yahoo News. "He pulled up and spent an hour with him because he's got StarLink [a satellite internet service]."
Despite Chevy waking Caleb up in the middle of the night, with the 23-year-old admitting he had "jumped away from the window" with fright, he was relieved someone had finally stopped to help.
The pair were able to communicate to a friend what part the 4WD needed, and the network of truckies arranged for the part to be brought by another driver from Kalgoorlie.
It was then that Paula received word that her son was alive and well.
"I felt hopeless as a mum, but this whole team of people just rallied around and knew what to do. I was just so thankful and humbled. I can't thank them enough," she said. "When I knew he was safe, I breathed a sigh of relief."
After spending a second night in his 4WD, with the truckie unable to tow the vehicle, the part arrived on the Thursday morning, and Caleb was able to fix his car. The "box of crackers and three to four muesli bars" had kept him going, and he was now free to get behind the wheel and start the ignition.
Sad reality behind outback rescue along Nullarbor Plain
Every person involved in the breakdown and rescue repeated one question to Yahoo News. Why did no one stop?
Pete, who spends a lot of time on the remote roads of Australia, says "it's a sign of the times" what happened to Caleb.
"The problem is a lot of people don't stop because of movies, and it feels dangerous. That's fair enough," Pete said. "But surely you can lock your doors, wind your window down a little bit, and ask if someone is OK.
"Out on the Nullarbor when there's a long way between drinks, you make sure to pull over and ask if they're all right," he said. "It's happening less and less now."
Bec expressed relief to learn the driver, who is a similar age to her son, was safely found. She said her involvement was no trouble at all, saying "it was just a mate helping a mate".
"It's just the true Aussie spirit," she claimed.
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