Nigel Hardy and Geoff Pinch

Graphic: Nigel Hardy and Geoff Pinch

When you fall into a near boiling thermal mud pool in remote South Australia

Date published

28 Nov 2022
Geoff with burns on bed in Adelaide Hospital

Flying Doctor Podcast #27:

Nigel and Geoff had been 4-wheel driving with a group of friends and were headed home to Adelaide on the Birdsville Track.

When they pulled in for a rest break at a roadside artesian bore, Geoff stepped out of the car and onto what looked like solid ground, only to suddenly find himself up to his neck in a 90-degree mud pool.

“I heard a man scream … a scream like I’d never heard before,” Nigel recalls.

Nigel pulled Geoff from the mud and still does not know how he did it - but as Geoff stood before him, he realised the extent of his mate's burns.

He did what he could to get cold water and ice onto Geoff, from the icebox they had in the car, and then started the dash to the closest station, the tiny outpost of Mungerannie, over an hour away.

Geoff being transferred in Mungeranni

Many first responders assisted Geoff when they arrived -- both locals, RFDS staff and MedSTAR. Geoff was eventually stabilised and then transferred to Adelaide for the specialist care he so desperately needed.

Listen to the full story shared by Nigel himself who details the impact it had on Geoff, and on him, even to this day.