Horse riders find little boy lost

Milton Times ^ | 11/2/05

[linkinpunk]

Horse riders find little boy lost

by Cheryl Chenevier

Wednesday, 2 November 2005

Nicole Melrose and her partner Gavin Morton rode out on Sunday morning on their horses, Rusty and BJ to resume the search for young Cooper Jones who had been missing since Saturday morning.

"I prayed so hard, please any souls out there, look after him until we get there," Nicole said.

She and Gavin woke early to catch and saddle their horses before floating them to the search area.

"We'd only been out looking for about an hour when I heard him whimper," Nicole said.

"We went towards the sound, and I said to Gavin", '‘I can hear him" but I still couldn't see him when Gavin pointed right in front of me.

"He was in a hole, like an up-rooted tree would leave.

"All I could see was his little face looking up because he was half covered by ferns.

"His face was dirty with leaves stuck to him and his little hands and feet were purple and wrinkly," she said.

After surviving the rainy night, Cooper was cold and wet but in good spirits, alive and alert.

He was approximately 100 metres off the track and in dense scrub between the track and the lake when he was found.

"As soon as he saw us, he said, ‘Da Da'," Gavin said.

"I told him we're going to see Dadda right now mate and he started crying."

Nicole said she couldn't believe a little toddler could get that far.

"He was right in the thick of it," she said.

Cooper enjoyed the horse ride back to the rescue helicopter and was reunited with his parents, Emma Hettle and Chris Jones.

With so many rescue teams and individual community members searching for more than 24 hours for Cooper, Nicole attributed her lucky find to the horses.

"You can't beat horses," she said.

"They are so aware.

"I don't know why they are not used for search and rescues because you can hear better and you can see better from horseback."

Nicole said, "It is such a wonderful feeling knowing that Cooper was safe and well and reunited with his parents.

"We just wanted to help."

[Rebelbase]

Before anyone asks where, it's in Australia.

[linkinpunk]

Happy ending - Cooper's a trooper



by Cheryl Chenevier

Wednesday, 2 November 2005

A weekend camping trip turned into every parent's worst nightmare after 22-month-old Cooper Jones of Lake Conjola wandered off into bushland on Saturday.

Young Cooper defied the odds and surprised search and rescue teams when he survived a day and night alone in the bush with no shoes and no food, water or shelter before being discovered in a hole one and a half kilometres from where he disappeared.

Cooper's parents Emma Hettle and Chris Jones, along with his extended family, were camping in the Meroo National Park on the edge of Burrill Lake on the weekend when they noticed the toddler was missing about 9am on Saturday.

"His parents were beside themselves with worry," grandmother, Rae Hettle said.

After an immediate frantic search by family members police were notified and a full-scale search was instigated for him.

State Emergency Service teams, Police Rescue Squad, a police dog, Rural Fire Service crews, PolAir, National Parks personnel, the police trail bike squad and hundreds of members of the community joined the search through dense bushland and along the lake foreshore for Cooper.

Family members were confident Cooper was afraid of the water and would not approach the lake.

"He would not go near the water since he got a scare from a fish," Rae said.

But as darkness approached on Saturday, police divers were called in and the search continued through the night before being up-graded at first light on Sunday.

With rescuers fearing the worst, but never giving up on finding Cooper, teams combed bushland and the lake foreshore as the police helicopter kept constant surveillance from the air.

Much to his exhausted parents' relief, Cooper was found at 10am on Sunday by Nicole Melrose and Gavin Morton who had ventured out on horseback, determined to find the little boy.

"I knew he'd be found alive," his father, Chris said.

"When I heard he was okay I collapsed to the ground."

Family members, including Cooper's grandmother, Rae Hettle thanked rescue teams for their efforts as they filed out of the national park.

"It's a miracle," Rae said.

"We can't thank everyone enough."

After a routine check-up at Milton Hospital, Cooper spent Sunday night at home with his very happy mum and dad, Emma Hettle and Chris Jones.

"He slept with us last night," Emma said.

"We are just so glad to have him home and so thankful to everybody who helped out.

"We won't let him out of our sight."

[AnAmericanMother]

Gathered that from the "mate" form of address . . .

Good thing they found this little guy. Horses are good at S&R, you can cover a lot of ground, you're high up where you can see, and they are an extra pair of eyes and ears.

[battlegearboat]

They failed to mention that it was Lassie that led them to the boy.

[linkinpunk]

Yeah. Not a lot of info in the first article.

I guess the reporter forgot little things like-

who- who is the boy and who are the parents

what- what is the boy's age? what were they doing in the woods?

where- where did it take place

[southernnorthcarolina]

Evidently, they use very short paragraphs in Australia.

[linkinpunk]

She and Gavin woke early to catch and saddle their horses before floating them to the search area.

That is what first made me wonder where they were from. I have horses and never have "floated" them anywhere in my life.

[WV Mountain Mama]

It's nice to read a happy ending for once.

[Momto2]

I thought the title was worded strangely as well..... Shouldn't it say "Horse riders find lost little boy?"

[AnAmericanMother]

A "float" is Aussie-speak for a horse trailer.

I must admit I had a vision of two horses being paddled across a lake on giant inner tubes . . .

. . . I worked for an Aussie for awhile and picked up a lot of the slang. It's very like the old American frontier lingo in tone and humor. My favorite is "just a lot of shirt-tearin'" -- i.e. a fight where there's a lot of chest puffing and grappling but no serious punches are thrown. Like when my dog and the dog across the street get into it in a friendly way. . . . lots of hair-raising snarls and bumping but no bites.

[southernnorthcarolina]

I have horses and never have "floated" them anywhere in my life.

I noticed that, too. It must be an Aussie slang term for "transporting." I have a friend from Alabama who says things like "I'm going to carry Mama to the store," wherein "carry" actually means "drive."

[Peter Porcupine]

Shouldn't it say "Horse riders find lost little boy?"

My guess it's an inexplicable attempt to sound literary. It's an allusion to William Blake. The author may want to go back and read that poem again--assuming he's ever done so.

[cricket]

A wonderful ending. . .and a testimony to the power of prayer and having a good horse.

[SoFloFreeper]

Thank the Lord! Miracles do happen today, people!!

[doug from upland]

It is nice to hear a happy ending. We are filled with bad news everyday.

[BadAndy]

One and a half kilometers is a long way to toddle. Fortunately a dingo didn't eat their baby.

[A-10]

It seems like I'm always hearing stories about lands being closed offf to horses, atv's, snowmobiles and quads. It sucks, because they can perform a real service to the community in times of need like this case.

As a kid, I had a motorcycle. The cops gave us crap and we were always getting into trouble for riding the powerlines, but on 3 occasions, they really needed our help. There were 2 fires where we shuttled indian tanks to the firefighters and one lost retarded kid who we helped find.

The very next day after the kid was found one of the rookie cops tried to give us a ration of crap, but the sargent came and let us go. We developed a decent realtionship with the cops, but it was a lot of work.

[PAR35]

Before anyone asks where, it's in Australia.

Thanks for the info. I added it as a keyword.

Linkinpunk - it isn't that hard to tell us the location, either in the comment or by adding a keyword.

[robertpaulsen]

"Fortunately a dingo didn't eat their baby."

Elaine said it best.