An ex-Royal Marine ultra-runner, 49, who spent 30 hours lost in the bush has been found safe and sound.
Peter Dalby of Hope Island, a suburb in Gold Coast, Queensland, spent the night alone and in the cold after going off the track at Binna Burra on Friday during a 24km training run.
‘I was leading a group of 11 runners who were practising for a run in September,’ he told Daily Mail Australia.
Peter Dalby (pictured) was rescue after being stuck in a Gold Coast bush for 30 hours on Friday
Queensland police air helicopter rescued Mr Dalby on Saturday at 1.30pm local time
‘As I was ahead of the group, I spotted a beautiful waterfall and decided to stop to wash my feet and take a dip.
‘I saw a tiny track and decided to climb it thinking that was the way out.
‘When I realised it was the wrong path, it was too late to go back down, as it was too steep.
‘I felt so stupid and angry with myself,’ he said.
Mr Dalby, a biology researcher, decided his best chance of survival was to find higher ground that would make it would easier for rescue workers to spot him.
‘I was in the marines 30 years ago at the age of 18 and had full commando training,’ he said. ‘All that came back to me and helped me in my survival as well.’
Mr Dalby, originally from Brighton in the UK, was spotted by a Queensland police helicopter on Friday, and his location was passed on to Queensland Special Emergency Services workers and the community group Run Goat Run to track him down by foot.
A Queensland police helicopter had completed their rescue mission of Mr Dalby in 30 minutes
When they failed to locate him, another police helicopter was sent out on Saturday afternoon to bring Mr Dalby back to safety.
‘They police helicopter came about 1.30pm on Saturday, and it took them 30 minutes to complete the rescue.
‘I was immediately flown to Gold Coast University Hospital and was placed in the emergency department for several hours.
Mr Dalby (pictured, left) said his training at the marine as a teenager helped him in his survival
‘Another day at night alone, I would have been dead,’ he said.
Mr Dalby said he kept awake all by talking and singing to himself because he feared he would roll off a nearby cliff if he fell asleep.
He said he started hallucinating during the night from lack of food and water.
‘It was below zero degrees and thankfully the thick bandage that I had for snake bites saved me as I used it to wrap it around my head like a turban to protect me from the cold,’ he said.
As soon as police rescue Mr Dalby, he was transported straight to the emergency department
‘The silver blanket which I had with me came in handy as well as I used it to wave at the Queensland police air helicopter,’ he said.
Mr Dalby said although the place was crawling with poisonous brown snakes, he only encountered one throughout his ordeal which was startled to see him there.
‘I was told that if that snake had bitten me, I would have been dead,’ he said.
Mr Dalby said going forward, he would be writing about his experience and advocating the importance of carrying a survival kit when going for such runs.
Mr Dalby said going forward he will write on the importance of carrying a survival kits for runs