Teen Survives 80-Meter Fall Using Headphones to Guide Rescue

Jake McCollum thought he was going to die when he fell 80 meters from Mount Walsh's rocky pinnacle during his first solo bushwalk last November.

The 18-year-old Australian had accidentally climbed the wrong trail near the summit. He plunged down the mountainside, fracturing his spine, breaking ribs, and suffering internal bleeding and a head injury.

His phone shattered on impact. But before leaving home, his parents had insisted he carry a personal locator beacon, which he managed to activate as he lay broken on the ground.

About 30 minutes after the fall, Jake heard something near his head. His Bluetooth headphones had fallen off during the tumble, and his mother Rachel was frantically calling through them after receiving an alert from federal authorities in Canberra.

Jake crawled to the headphones and whispered: "Mum, I'm hurt really bad." His mother's knees buckled hearing those words, but she and her husband Tim stayed on the line for the next five hours.

The couple drove 90 minutes from their Bundaberg home while relaying Jake's condition to search teams. But finding him proved nearly impossible.

The locator beacon signal bounced off rock faces, masking Jake's true position. He wore all black, lay face down in shadow, and was hidden under thick forest canopy on a trail rescuers weren't searching.

"We had to come down low to hover before we could actually see him," said LifeFlight aircrew officer Shayne White. After hours of searching, White finally spotted Jake's legs from the helicopter.

When Jake's headphone batteries died, he could still faintly hear his parents through the smashed phone nearby. He even heard a helicopter pass overhead at one point, crushing his hope before crews circled back.

Why This Inspires

This rescue showcases how simple preparation transforms tragedy into survival. Jake's parents insisted on the locator beacon for his first solo hike. That single decision, combined with Bluetooth headphones nobody considered survival gear, created a lifeline when everything else failed.

Rachel McCollum believes those headphones saved her son's life. Without them, finding Jake could have taken days in the dense Queensland wilderness.

The rescue crew spent over an hour stabilizing Jake before carrying him through scrub on a stretcher to be airlifted out. He's now recovering, grateful for parents who prepare for the worst and technology that turned a catastrophic fall into a story of survival.

"We're one of the lucky ones," Rachel said. "We get to hug our kid at night."