National Park After Dark

Episode 338: Your Leg or Your Life – Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park

Hosts: Danielle (A), Cassie (B)
Release Date: December 1, 2025

Episode Overview

In this gripping episode, Danielle and Cassie recount a harrowing and inspiring survival story from Australia’s Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park. Just a year prior, veteran Lithuanian rafter Valdas Belialuskas became trapped in an underwater crevice during a remote rafting expedition. The tale explores themes of human resilience, the limits of endurance, the expertise of rescue teams, and the power of teamwork—raising the ultimate question: What would you be willing to endure to survive?

Major Topics & Discussion Points

1. Survival Stories & Human Limits (00:01–05:55)

• Danielle opens by reflecting on why survival stories like Aron Ralston’s grab our attention: “If I were in their shoes, could I have done that? What are my limits? What would I be willing to endure?” (00:34)
• The introduction frames the episode as an exploration of just how far someone will go to stay alive.

2. The Setting: Tasmania & the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers NP (07:46–12:26)

• Danielle paints a vivid picture of Tasmania: “Temperate rainforests of sassafras and tree ferns, mountain ranges some 5,000 ft tall, rugged coasts…and the Franklin River…no roads, no buildings, and no dams.” (08:01)
• Brief history of the park’s creation and the fight against the proposed dam in the 1980s.
• The Franklin River is highlighted as a world-class, remote, and dangerous whitewater destination.

3. The Protagonist: Valdas Belialuskas (12:26–13:59)

• Introduced as a lifelong rafter and expert, “super cool under pressure and known to his friends as a fearless adventurer.” (11:41)
• Rafting trips served as celebrations of independence post-Soviet era.

4. Journey Down the Franklin River (13:59–16:55)

• Expert team facing challenging Class 2–6 rapids in multi-day self-supported trip.
• Description of unique watercraft (catarafts) and preparation for total self-reliance in the wilderness.

5. Disaster Strikes: Valdas Gets Trapped (22:29–26:25)

• The Fall: “Shortly after noon, they filmed Valdas stumble, lose his balance and fall into the water…he told them, ‘My left leg is stuck.’” (23:00)
• Friends attempt for 40+ minutes to free him, ultimately have to call for help via satellite phone due to the severity of his entrapment.

6. The Rescue: Race Against Time (26:25–33:00)

• Factors Working Against Valdas:
  • Cold (50°F) river water, risk of hypothermia, and possible rising water levels from rain.
  • Remote location—90 miles from nearest city, no cell service, and hazardous terrain.
• Rescue Efforts:
  • Multiple rescue attempts using ropes, slings, power tools, airbags, hydraulic spreaders, and even the idea of a jackhammer, all fail.
  • After 20 hours, option narrows: To save his life, they must break—or amputate—his leg.

7. Ethical Dilemmas & Human Endurance (33:00–45:50)

• Team’s Agony: “Many later said that they’d never needed to hurt someone in order to help them…amputate the leg or leave him to die.” (39:03)
• Valdas is remarkably calm and resolute, communicates his consent, and even in translation, is described as “one of the bravest, most determined people I have ever met.”
• A further complication: the lead doctor slips and breaks his own arm while prepping for the amputation (45:50).

8. The Field Amputation—Improvisation in Crisis (47:26–56:58)

• New doctor (Dr. Jorian Kippex), a trauma specialist and mountaineer, is flown in and rappels to Valdas’s location.
• Anesthetic selection is critical: administers ketamine, which allows for sedation without suppressing breathing.
• Makeshift tourniquet fashioned from ratchet straps after Velcro fails due to wetness.
• The amputation is performed underwater by feel, not by sight, using a gigli saw: “He made his first cut through the thigh…but as soon as he kind of hit the femur…the saw…snapped in half. He had to use his own hands to break off the rest of [the] leg, and was able to free Valdas.” (56:18)
• Procedure took under two minutes.

9. The Aftermath: Brink of Death and Resuscitation (59:51–63:21)

• Evacuation is urgent as Valdas’ hypothermia-induced cardiac arrest sets in; rescue team performs CPR and uses a portable heart-lung machine.
• Critical insight: extreme hypothermia slows bodily functions so much that “you’re not dead until you’re warm and dead.” (63:52)
• After over an hour of cardiac arrest and four days unconscious, Valdas miraculously begins to recover.

10. Recovery, Resilience, and Recognition (67:23–End)

• Valdas’s first words: “I’m a survivor.” (68:46)
• Discharged after weeks, goes from wheelchair to prosthetic leg, regains independence, and credits his survival to teamwork.
• Honors bestowed to Dr. Kippex (“Australian of the Year for Tasmania,” “Life Saving Cross” from Lithuanian president), but he credits the entire team.
• One year later, Valdas plans to return to the Franklin River: “A 2026 trip to get back on the water and conquer the river that took his leg. Fuck yeah.” (72:58)

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Danielle (on why these stories resonate, 00:34):
  “If I were in their shoes, could I have done that? What are my limits? What would I be willing to endure?”

• On Valdas’s character (36:29):
  “Strong, quiet, and never one to complain…had a strong community of friends who referred to him as a legend. Even before this incident.”

• On the toughest emergency medicine choice (39:03):
  “Many later said that they'd never needed to hurt someone in order to help them…Amputate the leg or leave him to die.”

• Valdas’s resolve post-rescue (70:27):
  “I didn’t make a big deal about losing my leg. Just be thankful you’re alive.”

• Dr. Kippex’s humility (72:38):
  “It does feel a bit odd to be singled out. All I can think of in my heart is that I’m representing a whole bunch of people…[Valdas is] one of the bravest, most determined people I have ever met.”

• Valdas’s first words upon waking (68:46):
  “I’m a survivor.”

• Cassie (74:12):
  “To go through all of that and then plan your return back and to overcome it…to just be like, you know what? I’m a survivor. I’m gonna keep living my life and I’ll be back…is just incredible.”

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:01 | Introduction—why survival stories fascinate us; setup for the episode’s tone | | 07:46 | Introduction to Tasmania and Franklin River; history and environment | | 12:26 | Introduction of Valdas and his life of rafting adventure | | 22:29 | Valdas falls, gets trapped; first rescue efforts begin | | 26:25 | Description of rescue attempts; risks of hypothermia and rising water | | 33:00 | Shift to breaking his leg/amputation as last resort | | 39:03 | The moral and medical decision: save the leg or the life | | 45:50 | Lead doctor breaks his arm—complicating rescue further | | 47:26 | New doctor rappels in, prepares and performs field amputation using improvisation | | 56:49 | Procedure finished—a two-minute underwater amputation | | 59:51 | Post-rescue—hypothermia, cardiac arrest, miraculous resuscitation | | 63:52 | Explanation of “you’re not dead until you’re warm and dead”; reference to similar survival stories | | 68:46 | “I’m a survivor”—Valdas wakes and speaks | | 72:38 | Dr. Kippex and national/international recognition | | 72:58 | Valdas’s plan to return to the Franklin River |

Tone, Reflections, and Human Insights

• The hosts infuse the retelling with a sense of awe, dark humor, and warmth—even as they delve into vivid medical and emotional details. Cassie’s amazement at the medical improvisation and rescue teamwork (“I’m so impressed by the medical team here”—51:00) and Danielle’s empathy for the psychological fallout (“There’s a lot that is missing from the story of just his recovery and the emotional turmoil that happens after that”—73:12) root the story in real human stakes.
• The conversation consistently returns to questions of courage, fate, and resilience—making the episode not only an account of survival, but also a meditation on the spirit of adventure, the skill and heart of first responders, and the love of wild places.

Closing Thoughts

This multi-layered episode combines the pulse of high-stakes adventure with sobering medical drama and inspiring resilience. For listeners, it is a reminder of both the peril and the wonder of venturing into wilderness, the miracle of modern emergency medicine, and the power of indomitable human will.

For more details and visuals, the hosts recommend watching the ABC documentary covering Valdas’s rescue and recovery.

Podcast social links and bonus content info are mentioned at the end.