Lucky to be alive!

By Tania Martin
A WOMAN who fell 75 metres down a ravine and spent a terrifying night on the side of a mountain almost four weeks ago has returned to the scene to praise hills rescue teams.
Carey Husing, 27, of Tecoma, fell 75 metres down a ravine on the Kyeema Track, in Mt Dandenong shortly after 5pm on Friday, 25 May.
She spent a cold night wondering if she was going to live or die.
But an early morning phone call to her brother sparked a three-hour rescue operation involving several hills rescue teams, including Monbulk, Kalorama, Olinda, and Boronia CFAs.
Terry Quarrell of Kalorama CFA was first on the scene and was shocked to see how far she had fallen.
Mr Quarrell said the rescue was one of the biggest he had been involved with.
He said it was amazing to see so many agencies work so well together to rescue Ms Husing.
“It was a fantastic result – not only is Carey fit and well but she has also come here today (Sunday) to show us her gratitude which is just fantastic,” he said.
Ms Husing praised the efforts of hills rescue teams on Sunday and spoke of her harrowing ordeal.
She is still counting her blessings after only receiving minor cuts and abrasions from her fall.
Ms Husing says staying calm was the key to surviving the night.
She still doesn’t remember what happened but believes she tripped over a rock.
“I remember walking back to my car and I stopped and turned to look at the sunset and I must have tripped over a rock on the path,” she said.
“I hit my head on a rock and everything went black – I don’t remember falling.”
Regaining consciousness, Ms Husing said she tried to get up but rolled further down the ravine.
She said the only thing that stopped her downward spiral was a tree.
“I hit a tree with my hip and that stopped me from falling further,” she said.
Afraid to move in case she fell further down the cliff, Ms Husing spent the night freezing and just wishing for daylight to come.
“I couldn’t stop shivering and my back was hurting but I just kept thinking that I needed to stay calm,” she said.
“I couldn’t wait until daylight and was praying someone would find me.”
But when daylight eventually came Ms Husing was shocked to see how far she had fallen.
“I was deep in bushland and thought no one would ever find me,” she said.
Ms Husing then frantically started looking for her jacket, which she was holding when she fell.
She spotted her jacket sitting a couple of metres up the hill.
But during the night Ms Husing had lost the feeling in her legs and had to drag herself using her hands to the jacket.
“I couldn’t feel my legs but I told myself that I needed to try or no one would find me so I crawled up to the jacket and I found my mobile phone.”
She then rang her brother Dwain and told him what had happened.
Mr Husing then rushed to Mt Dandenong to find his sister before calling emergency services.
“It was amazing they (the CFA) where there within three minutes and I left the rest up to them,” he said