A LifeFlight aircrew officer is saving lives with the same aeromedical organisation that saved his life a decade ago.
Chris Finch has started a new chapter on the Coast after serving the Bundaberg community for three years.
He had the goal of working for LifeFlight ever since he was saved in a dramatic rescue at Table Top Mountain near Toowoomba in 2015.
The incident sadly claimed the life of his beloved golden retriever Bentley.
‘Finchy’ and his army mates went for a hike with their dogs bounding alongside them. When they approached the summit, Bentley lost his footing on the edge of a cliff.
Mr Finch managed to pull the dog back up by his collar to safety, but he suddenly fell and tumbled down the cliff.
“As I was falling, I was trying to grab onto rocks, tree roots and that sort of stuff and they were breaking away in my hands,” he said.
“I managed to grab hold of a large tree root about five metres short of a 100-metre cliff, which ultimately saved my life.
“The guys up the top were yelling out to see if I was okay and when I tried to get up, my brain was telling my leg to move but it wouldn’t, and I just fell over again.”
After a 10-metre fall that badly severed Mr Finch’s right patella tendon, he realised he was in serious trouble. There was no way he could make it back up the mountain on his own.
After the fall, Mr Finch looked up to see Bentley standing at the edge of the cliff looking down at him.
“All of a sudden, he just jumped. I’m not sure why he did. I think he just wanted to be with me, but unfortunately, he passed away,” he said.
“One of my mates picked Bentley up and carried him down to the base of the mountain.”
After seeing the state of his knee, Mr Finch’s mates called triple-0.
Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics and Queensland Fire Department personnel hiked up the mountain to provide initial treatment.
“My other mates helped me get back up the mountain so I could be winched out,” he said.
LifeFlight aircrew officer Mark Arthur was the crew member who winched Mr Finch around 12 metres into the helicopter.
“I’m an animal lover and I was upset to hear his dog didn’t survive,” Mr Arthur said.
“When we winched Finchy up, he was quite relaxed given what he’d just been through.”
LifeFlight pilot Dave Hampshire said the mountain rescue was made easier by the experienced army crewmen on the ground.
“Due to their experience and qualifications, they set themselves up brilliantly on the ground,” Mr Hampshire said.
“It was a lap around Table Top Mountain and then straight into the winch.”
After Mr Finch was airlifted to Toowoomba Base Hospital he received the news that his loyal companion didn’t make it.
“I remember lying in the hospital bed and my wife came and told me that Bentley had passed away. It was a very hard ordeal to get over,” he said.
In a serendipitous twist, the doctor on duty at the hospital that day just happened to be the wife of one of his mates on the hike.
While Mr Finch knew he was in good hands, his wife Megan said her husband’s injuries were so severe she was worried about how the family would cope.
“Chris was in a bad way and we had a newborn baby and a toddler, so there were plenty of sleepless nights,” she said.
“Fortunately, he recovered and I’m just so grateful that our family is happy and healthy and proud of Chris with his role at LifeFlight.
“He cares a lot about people and is an amazing father and human being.”
After six months of recovery, Mr Finch set the wheels in motion to work for LifeFlight.
“After it happened, I thought well this is the company to work for after the army, to give back what they did for me and help me get to the hospital,” he said.
“It’s always been a long-term goal to work for LifeFlight. I used to watch the rescue helicopters go over our heads when we surfed as kids and thought how cool they were.
“Now here I am and it’s a bit of a sweet moment to work for the company that saved me all those years ago.”
Mr Finch said he and his family were embracing the next chapter of their lives on the Sunshine Coast.
“I’m excited to start a new role as an aircrew officer down at the Sunshine Coast LifeFlight base and support the local community,” he said.
“We’re really excited about what the future holds.”
