In recent weeks, Australians have been confronted with the devastating reality of how quickly a day in the outdoors can turn into tragedy.

Teenage hiker Lily Hooper died after becoming lost during a bushwalk in NSW, while the death of Gold Coast magician Daniel Hidden after he disappeared during a hike has also left family, friends and the wider community grieving.

Both were experienced hikers who knew what they were doing in the outdoors.

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The deaths have renewed attention on the unforgiving nature of remote terrain and the extraordinary effort required when something goes wrong far from help.

An accident, a slip, a fall can happen in seconds.

The rescue operation following can take hours, involving search and rescue teams with paramedics, firefighters, helicopters and carefully considered backup plans that must account for changing weather and difficult terrain.

Queensland Fire Department (QFD) senior vertical and mountain rescue instructor Ben Carroll has spent years training crews to tackle complex mountain rescues in difficult and dangerous terrain. Credit: Queensland Fire Department/7NEWS

Rescuers prepared specialist equipment as they worked to reach and extract an injured hiker from difficult terrain. Credit: Queensland Fire Department

‘One hell of a rescue’

On Mother’s Day last year, 65-year-old Bundaberg retiree Suzanne Tobin was about an hour into a difficult bushwalk on Mount Walsh when she lost her footing.

The local walking group was making its way through a rocky creek gorge, clambering over boulders and using trees for support.

“You had to hold onto trees at different points and anchor yourself with all four limbs and I just lost my footing and fell back,” Suzanne said.

“I only fell 1m but, unfortunately, my body twisted and I felt my leg go and I knew I had done some serious damage because I heard it break.”

Queensland Fire Department officers attempted to carry Suzanne Tobin from the ravine before the slippery terrain forced them to reconsider the extraction. Credit: 7NEWS

Suzanne Tobin was placed on a stretcher for the LifeFlight helicopter to winch her to safety. Credit: LifeFlight

Suzanne Tobin was winched to safety by a LifeFlight helicopter after breaking her leg during a bushwalk on Mount Walsh. Credit: LifeFlight

The fall was relatively short but rescuers faced dense vegetation and steep and slippery terrain, making it impossible to carry her safely off the mountain. A Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) paramedic hiked into the scene to treat her and provide pain relief, while firefighters and fellow bushwalkers helped carry Suzanne on a stretcher through dense vegetation.

Rescuers broke branches and pushed saplings aside in an effort to clear a path, but the steep, slippery terrain and thick bushland made it impossible to carry her safely off the mountain.

The only viable option was an aerial extraction.

LifeFlight pilot Tony Miller, who has spent four decades in the cockpit, was called in to attempt the difficult winch rescue. “It was up there with one of the most challenging land missions I’ve ever had,” he said.

The helicopter had to descend into the treeline and manoeuvre into a tight ravine surrounded by dense vegetation before Miller could position the aircraft for a medical team to be lowered to Suzanne.

“There was a high degree of difficulty for sure, and very little room for error. Very tight margins,” he said.

The crew also had to contend with changing weather, low cloud and showers while monitoring the aircraft’s fuel supply.

“It just happened to be one of those ones that tested all our skills,” Miller said.

LifeFlight pilot Tony Miller said Suzanne Tobin’s rescue was one of the most challenging land missions of his career. Credit: LifeFlight

LifeFlight flight paramedic Brendan West with Suzanne Tobin aboard the helicopter after she was rescued. Credit: LifeFlight

Months later, Suzanne was reunited with the pilot who helped bring her home.

“It was one hell of a rescue,” she told him. “The whole thing was just unbelievable.”

The rescue is often harder than the injury

Queensland Fire Department (QFD) senior vertical and mountain rescue instructor Ben Carroll told 7NEWS.com.au that rescue helicopters are “incredibly valuable” in getting injured people out of difficult mountain terrains quickly but “failing light, fog, high winds, all of those things can very much limit their ability to conduct the winch, if at all”.

“So, while it’s a fantastic option, we always have to have a plan B,” he said.

Carroll has spent years training firefighters to reach people in terrain conventional emergency crews cannot easily access.

His work draws on his background as both a paramedic and rock climber, but he said mountain rescues are not always what people might imagine.

“When you think about mountain rescuing, there’s rock climbing and big cliffs and whatnot, some of those jobs may not take the most time,” Carroll said.

“It could be relatively straightforward jobs.”

Mountain rescues can involve specialist crews, helicopters and drones, with Ben Carroll urging hikers to be prepared for the unexpected when heading into rugged terrain. Credit: Queensland Fire Department

In many cases, the greatest challenge is not necessarily a sheer cliff face or dramatic fall, but the combination of dense vegetation, narrow gorges, difficult terrain and the distance between an injured person and the nearest road.

One of the longest mountain rescue operations Carroll has been involved in stretched across about 26 hours from start to finish.

In another, a casualty had to be brought out of a gorge by a team of about 15 people.

“It wasn’t hugely technical in nature but it was physically demanding and arduous terrain,” he said.

“And that took the best amount of about 12 hours to get them back up to the ambulance.”

The method used to reach and extract an injured person depends on a range of factors, including the terrain, their injuries and the conditions at the time.

Helicopters can dramatically reduce the time it takes to get someone off a mountain, but they are not always an option.

Wind, rain, cloud and fading light can all make an aerial extraction impossible, meaning rescue crews must consider alternatives.

“Generally speaking, we never put our eggs in one basket,” he said.

‘There was nowhere to go but down’

Mount Walsh has been the scene of other extraordinary rescues.

In November, Bundaberg teenager Jake McCollum was on his first solo hike when he slipped near the summit.

The 18-year-old was taking photographs when mossy rocks, still wet from overnight rain, crumbled beneath him.

“Literally seconds later, I fell,” Jake said. “There was nowhere to go but down.”

This was the last photo Jake McCollum took before an 80m fall from Mount Walsh left him fighting for his life. Credit: LifeFlight

He fell about 80m down the mountain, suffering a fractured spine, broken ribs, internal bleeding, a head laceration and concussion.

His backpack was flung away but landed nearby, allowing him to crawl across the rocks and activate the personal locator beacon he had packed for the hike.

His phone was smashed in the fall but, after hearing his AirPods ring, Jake managed to find them and eventually connect with his mother, Rachel.

She remained on the phone with her son for more than five hours as he lay injured in 36C heat without water.

When a rescue helicopter eventually arrived, it initially flew past him.

“But then it went right past me,” Jake recalled. “I was talking through the phone and saying, ‘It’s gone past me, it’s gone past me!’.”

Jake’s phone was badly damaged in the fall, but his AirPods gave him a crucial way to communicate with his mother for more than five hours. Credit: LifeFlight

Jack McCollum’s mother Rachel texting rescuers as she spoke to her son on the phone. Credit: LifeFlight

Eventually, the crew located him and a doctor, flight paramedic and rescue crew officer were winched 150m down to reach the injured teenager.

“We were surprised he was alive, given the story we’d been told,” one of the rescuers said.

Jake survived.

For his mother, Rachel, the relief of having her son home was inseparable from an awareness that many families facing a call from the mountains do not get the same outcome.

“Something massive has happened to our family and we are one of the lucky ones,” she said.

“We get to hug our child and say goodnight to him.”

Preparation can make all the difference

Carroll is careful not to suggest there is a single formula for staying safe in the outdoors. Accidents can happen in circumstances that cannot always be anticipated or prevented.

But preparation can make a significant difference when something does go wrong, particularly in remote locations where emergency crews may face considerable challenges simply reaching an injured person.

Going with someone who has experience or knows the area is, Carroll said, “a very, very good place to start”.

He also encouraged hikers to have a plan for what they would do if something went wrong and to carry appropriate equipment.

“So again, take your first aid equipment,” he said.

“If you have your personal locating beacon ... activate it.

“If you have mobile phone reception, call triple-0.”

Knowing the area, considering the conditions and thinking ahead about what to do if plans change can all become important when help may be hours away and rescuers face difficult terrain just to reach an injured person.

Jake’s rescue provides one example of how preparation can become crucial in an emergency.

Despite suffering catastrophic injuries and being unable to use his damaged phone, he was able to activate his personal locator beacon, alerting authorities and beginning the process of locating him on the mountain.

Rescuers faced dense scrub and steep terrain as they made their way to Jake McCollum after his 80m fall. Credit: LifeFlight

The rescue operation required specialist equipment and a carefully co-ordinated effort to bring Jake safely off the mountain. Credit: LifeFlight

Bringing people home

For all the rope systems, specialist training and technical planning involved in mountain rescue, Carroll said the work ultimately comes down to the people waiting for someone to come home.

“In those moments when you do have a successful rescue and the plan’s executed well, everyone’s on the same page and the casualties conveyed down to awaiting family or friends or QAS resources,” he said.

“Those are the moments that make it all worthwhile.”

The work can involve long hours in difficult conditions, often keeping rescuers away from their own families for extended periods.

Carroll said the commitment made by the men and women who train for and carry out specialist mountain rescues was significant.

“They do a very, very hard job in incredibly trying conditions at times, away from their own families for protracted periods,” he said.

“It really is worthy of recognition.”

Because behind every successful rescue is not just a technical operation, but someone waiting for a loved one to come home.