The Daily Populous Monday May 4th, 2026 morning edition
Authored by abc.net.au and submitted by abcnews_au

A group of high school students has come to the rescue of an injured hiker in the Warrumbungle National Park.

During a four-day Duke of Edinburgh Award hike, students from Armidale's Presbyterian Ladies' College (PLC) came across Thomas Wendland, who had broken his leg.

Using tarp poles, a hammock and their outdoor education training, the students hiked for two hours to get the man to safety.

The students spent two hours hiking to get the man to safety, alternating their positions holding the makeshift stretcher to avoid fatigue. (Supplied: Presbyterian Ladies' College, Armidale)

Year 11 student Stephanie Blake said the girls had already been hiking for three days, but were eager to help.

"We placed my hammock over the top, and then he laid down on that and we all positioned ourselves around the outside.

"We would count down three seconds and then lift him up altogether, then we would walk 60 seconds and then rest for 15 seconds and rotate."

It took the group two hours to find a place where the man could be safely evacuated by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Year 11 student Stephanie Blake says the students felt proud to successfully put their training into a real-life scenario. (Supplied: Presbyterian Ladies' College, Armidale)

"The path just seemed to keep getting longer and longer," Stephanie said.

"You don't realise how far 3.5 kilometres is [until] you're shuffling along carrying someone."

She said the girls were determined not to give up.

"I felt such a good sense of achievement that we were able to help him," she said.

"It's nice to have this story, come home and say 'we rescued this hiker' and now we've got that safety tool in the pocket."

PLC outdoor educators Amanda and Marty Burney, who led the girls through the rescue, said the students' Duke of Edinburgh Award skills were crucial.

Amanda and Marty Burney led the girls on the hike and the rescue mission. (Supplied: Presbyterian Ladies' College, Armidale)

The Duke of Edinburgh Award is a non-formal education program for young people that focuses on physical recreation, skills, voluntary service and adventurous journey.

"We had practised this exact scenario a couple of years ago with this group of students when they were doing their bronze Duke of Edinburgh hike," Ms Burney said.

"When I called out to the girls and asked them to wait and told them our plan was to help this gentleman, they were so excited, there were lots of comments like 'wow, we've trained for this'.

" It's all fun and exciting the first 10 minutes, but once you're doing that for an hour and a half, you've really got to lock in. "

Thomas Wendland says he's grateful to the students and their teachers and has bought himself some hiking boots for his next adventures. (Supplied: Thomas Wendland)

Dubbo resident Thomas Wendland said he knew instantly that he had seriously injured himself after slipping on the track.

"I heard it snap, I knew something wasn't right," he said.

"We kept pushing on, and we ran into a couple of nurses along the way who helped by putting a compression bandage on it.

"Then I fell on it again a little bit later, that's when the pain started a lot."

Mr Wendland said the students and their teachers were amazing, getting right to work to find a solution.

"I felt quite useless while they all got it set up," he said.

"I was a little bit worried there for a while, my friend did everything that she could do, and I'm also very grateful for her help, but we didn't know what to do and what the next steps would be if we didn't come across the girls.

mbc106 on May 4th, 2026 at 03:38 UTC »

Reminds me of Troop Beverly Hills.

https://giphy.com/gifs/qavH8KiI6hUGs

(Good for the DoE team!)

__The__Anomaly__ on May 4th, 2026 at 02:56 UTC »

In what park?

andrewbrocklesby on May 4th, 2026 at 01:41 UTC »

The more you read this story the more bizarre it gets.

the girls were for whatever reason, not doing the DoE hike alone, they had adults with them. the adults told the girls that they were going to rescue the man. the man had fallen earlier and 'heard a crack' in his leg, and 'a couple of nurses on the trail' bandaged him up and left him, then he kept walking and fall again.

The whole thing is ridiculous