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- [00:01]
Kayleigh Cuoco
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- [00:35]
John Hopkins
It'S 9:25pm Tuesday, April 25, 2006, in northern Tasmania. The small mining town of Beaconsfield slumbers beneath the glow of a crescent moon. Everything is still. Only the crickets break the silence. The local residents aren't accustomed to such peace and quiet. Normally, the night is punctuated by distant blasts and vibrations traveling up through the earth, a constant reminder that work at the nearby gold mine never stops. Tonight, however, the intricate network of tunnels that lies beneath the streets of the town is unusually soundless. April 25 is Anzac Day in Australia, a day of remembrance for the country's fallen troops. In recognition of the public holiday, the mine has suspended its blasting operations for 24 hours. A temporary ceasefire. On nightstands all across town, alarm clocks tick from 9:25 to 9:26. And then it happens. The ground convulses with a sudden, violent surge of raw energy. Windows rattle in their frames, pictures bounce off walls. Dogs howl from backyard kennels up and down the treeline streets. Screen doors open and bewildered townsfolk stagger barefoot onto their verandas. Neighbors exchanged worried looks. Given its Anzac Day, that can't have been an explosion from the mine. It was something else. Deep seismic activity which has rattled the earth beneath their feet. Above ground, it was scary enough, but what about below? Slowly, heads turn in the direction of the hill that overlooks the town and the tall triangular steel puppet head that sits above the entrance to the mineshaft. A mineshaft that leads deep, deep underground through darkness and layers of rock. And in this subterranean maze, 925 meters down, miner Todd Russell has just been buried alive.
- [02:59]
Todd Russell
That rock compacted tighter and tighter in around my chest cavity where I wasn't able to take as much oxygen in. I was vomiting the contents of my stomach and I was slowly suffocating. And I just remember laying there in the pitch black darkness thinking, well, you know, this is how my life was going to end.
- [03:25]
John Hopkins
Ever wondered what you would do when disaster strikes if your life depended on your next decision? Could you make the right choice? Welcome to real survival Stories. These are the astonishing tales of ordinary people thrown into extraordinary situations. People suddenly forced to fight for their lives. In this episode we meet 34 year old Todd Russell. In April 2006, Todd and his colleague Brandt Webb are working deep within the Beaconsfield gold mine when a powerful seismic tremor causes the tunnel to collapse around them.
- [04:02]
Todd Russell
I was in severe pain and I prayed, prayed to the big fella above to take me because I couldn't handle being in the pain that I was in.
- [04:10]
John Hopkins
Todd and Brandt are presumed dead, but in fact they are alive, trapped in a tiny air pocket within the rock almost a kilometer below the surface, with barely enough room to move. As the hours stretch into days, they'll have to find hitherto untapped deposits of fortitude to survive the unsurvivable. I'm John Hopkins from Noiser. This is Real Survival stories. It's Tuesday, April 25, 2006 in Beaconsfield, Tasmania. Todd Russell is watching TV at home. The 34 year old has just finished a 12 hour shift and he intends to spend the rest of the day relaxing in front of the football. His pale brown eyes narrow in concentration. His fists lightly clench and unclench as the excitement of the match builds. Todd, who was born and raised in Beaconsfield, was once a promising Aussie rules football player himself renowned in these parts for his explosive power and strength. Professional scouts even came to watch him play in the local amateur league. And it had briefly seemed like fame and fortune awaited, but it never came to pass. Instead, after leaving high school and marrying his childhood sweetheart, Todd started bouncing between odd jobs around town. Times were tough and opportunities scarce.
- [06:07]
Todd Russell
I started off as a factory worker and then I was made redundant from there. I then went into another factory where I was another, you know, I was made redundant from that position as well. I then got into driving trucks for a couple of years and I had a very young family and on, on the wages that we were getting as a truck driver. Back in them early days, you know, we were really struggling as a family to make ends meet.
- [06:32]
John Hopkins
With a young family to support, Todd needed better job security and better pay. Which is why seven years ago he used contacts around town to secure work at the local gold mine. He landed an entry level position as a nipper. A dog's body at the bottom of the food chain.
- [06:51]
Todd Russell
They gave me the opportunity to start underground as a nipper with no underground mining experience. So basically I was pretty much everyone's dog. You know, run here, run there, get me this, get me that, you know, deliver this, deliver that, pick the Men up, drop the men off. And I did that for about 12 or 18 months.
- [07:09]
John Hopkins
But Todd progressed up the ranks, driving underground trucks and operating machinery. Eventually, he reached his current position of shot firer, responsible for setting explosive charges to blast through rock and access the precious metal within. In the hierarchical world of the mine, shot firers are well respected and well compensated. But the perks of the job go beyond the competitive salary. In Beaconsfield, a town whose prosperity depends on the mine, the blue miner's uniform is worn like a badge of honor. Todd's proud to work there, even if the negatives have started to outweigh the positives.
- [07:53]
Todd Russell
When I first walked into that list to go underground for the first time, you felt like a man, you know, because back then it was a male dominant industry. But the thing is, you know, I, when I first started working, I really enjoyed working there, but I grew to hate it very, very quickly.
- [08:13]
John Hopkins
Underground mining is grueling, high risk work. Accidents are a common occurrence at Beaconsfield, from malfunctioning machinery to rockfalls, cave ins and flash floods. For Todd and his fellow miners, it's not a question of if something bad will happen, it's a question of when.
- [08:32]
Todd Russell
Seeing a lot of different things and a lot of potentials for accidents to happen and seeing accidents happen. But the thing is, as a male, you take that perspective and it's not going to happen to me, it's going to happen to somebody else. But eventually your number will come up.
- [08:51]
John Hopkins
Todd glances up from the football as his wife Carolyn appears in the doorway. He's down to do another night shift later and she's asking what food he wants in his crib bag. Todd just grunts and turns back to the tv. He tells Carolyn that he isn't going into work this evening. He's too tired after a long week. They'll have to make do without him. The truth is, working underground can take its toll. And as a volunteer in the mine rescue team, Todd has witnessed firsthand the safety problems that plague the mine. The abundant groundwater that flows through cracks in the rock, the frequent seismic tremors that cause the walls to crack, split and tremble. In the last few months, he's even considered quitting his job underground and applying for a position on the surface, maybe in the mine security team. With that in mind, perhaps staying in his boss's good books isn't such a bad idea.
- [09:49]
Todd Russell
I sat there and I stewed on it a little bit because I'd had a bit of time off previous to Anzac Day and I thought, well, you know, if I have another night off tonight. I'm only gonna get into trouble with management so I've got 12 hours to go. I said just chuck with some curry chicken pies in my crib bag and whatnot and I'll go to work. I've got 12 hours to go. I'm going to come home.
- [10:11]
John Hopkins
Want to.
- [10:12]
Brandt Webb
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- [10:23]
John Hopkins
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- [10:29]
Brandt Webb
He came by my school for career.
- [10:30]
John Hopkins
Day and said he was a big roas man.
- [10:33]
Todd Russell
Then he told everyone how much he.
- [10:35]
John Hopkins
Loved calculating his return on ad spend. My friends still laugh at me to this day.
- [10:41]
Brandt Webb
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- [10:59]
John Hopkins
It'S about 5pm at the Gold mine. Todd, dressed in overalls and a hard hat, crosses the main site to the entrance of the shaft. Gold has been mined in Beaconsfield since the 1870s. Scattered among the ventilation pumps and refinery chimneys are crumbling red brick buildings, vestiges of the site's Victorian past. Todd signs in, passes through the safety gates and along with the other men on the night shift, steps inside the cage at the top of the mineshaft. His ears pop as the cage descends vertically into the earth. 100 meters. 200, 300, all the way down to 375 meters, roughly as deep as the Empire State Building is tall at this level. The lift opens to a wide cavernous platform. Four wheel drive utility vehicles zip this way and that, hauling buckets piled high with gold bearing quartz ore. Todd and his colleagues head over to the crib room. Inside, shift boss Gavin Cheeseman is delegating tasks. Soon all the men have been allocated duties except for Todd and two other miners, Brant Webb and Larry Knight. Todd nods at Larry, a bookish and softly spoken man of 44, the pair of good friends. As for Brandt, Todd barely knows him. They've worked together for years, but never on the same shift. Todd understands the 37 year old is something of a class clown with an impish sense of humor. Gavin turns to the three men. He wants them to journey down to an area of the mine known as 925 west, nearly a kilometer below the surface. Todd scratches his goatee, frowning and sighing. 925 west has another name too. Among the miners, it's known as bad ground.
- [13:05]
Todd Russell
Bad ground means you have the potential of rockfall. Over the course of the years, there's been some significant rock falls within Beaconsfield. I've had areas that I've been working in and left the area to go home. And then between me knocking off and the next shift coming on, there's been a massive rock fall in that area.
- [13:26]
John Hopkins
The likelihood of rockfall only increases with time. The constant drilling and blasting subjects the bedrock to enormous levels of stress. When that stress becomes too great, waves of seismic energy are released. Mini earthquakes that can lead to fractures, cave ins and rock bursts. To minimize the risk of catastrophe, miners leave undisturbed pillars of quartz in place to absorb the shockwaves. The trouble is, in Beaconsfield, the highest grade ore is found in the deepest reaches of the mine. And the gold contained within the pillars there is simply too precious to be left alone. In recent years, management has ordered these vital supportive structures to be mined out, replacing them with potentially weaker substitutes of cement and waste rock. Some of the workers, Todd included, have expressed concern about the removal of the pillars and the dire implications it could have for the men toiling at those deeper levels. Levels like 925 west, which Todd, Brant and Larry have just journeyed down to. They're building a retaining wall, a barrier separating the end of the tunnel from the empty void left behind by the removal of ore. As he shovels rubble, Todd glances up at the ceiling. In his headlamps glare, the rock looks ragged and snaggletoothed, clumsily held together by a patchwork of reinforcing mesh bolts and steel plate. He listens out for seismic activity, telltale sounds from deep within the bedrock.
- [15:09]
Todd Russell
I was actually working in the same area the night before, and the ground was very loud and noisy, popping and cracking, and it was actually singing and talking to us is what we've used in terms of underground mining. And I was even hit by a rock the night before.
- [15:23]
John Hopkins
Todd strains his ears, but the contrast from last night is striking. He can't hear a thing.
- [15:30]
Todd Russell
There was just dead silence. And to me now, sitting back here thinking, that was the calm before the storm. But the thing is, when you do the same job day in, day out, you know, for years upon end, you get complacent and paid the ultimate sacrifice.
- [15:51]
John Hopkins
Once they've finished building the foundations of the retaining wall, the next step is to connect A sheet of wire netting from the top of the wall to the ceiling. This requires a tele loader, an industrial vehicle with a steel basket attached to an extendable arm. Before getting started, Todd walks back to the entrance of the tunnel for a drink of water. Sweat pours off him. Down here, the temperature holds at a constant sweltering 35 degrees with jungle like humidity created by evaporating groundwater. When he gets back, Larry and Brandt are deep in negotiations.
- [16:32]
Todd Russell
I placed my water bottle on the back of the light vehicle and I proceeded to walk up to where Brent and Larry were having a conversation beside a telly. Later, as I approached, I see Brant reach to his pocket and pull out a coin. And he tossed that coin in the air and he said to Larry, what do you want, heads or tails?
- [16:47]
John Hopkins
Brandt and Larry are arguing over who gets the relatively easy job of operating the tele loader and who's going in the basket alongside Todd to do the real hard graft. Larry wins the toss. Brandt curses and shakes his head in disappointment, but she can't argue with the coin. With Larry in the cab of the loader, Brandt and Todd climb into the basket. It's a tight squeeze for two big burly men less than 1.5 meters across. They quickly get to work drilling the wire netting into place. After a couple of hours, the men stop for a break. Todd reaches for his water bottle as Brandt lights up a cigarette. 925 meters down. It is 9:25pm at that moment, a gust of wind tears down the tunnel, blowing the cigarette from Brandt's lips. Then, before he or Todd has a chance to speak, it's the loudest noise Todd has ever heard. A cataclysmic earth shattering bang. The next thing he knows, he's in complete darkness, splayed on the floor of the basket with several tons of rock on top of him.
- [18:09]
Todd Russell
For both Brent and I, it was instantaneous. As quick as you could blink, you know, you didn't have a chance to run, you didn't have a chance to duck. It was just instantaneous.
- [18:19]
John Hopkins
Todd tries to move, straining to shift just a millimeter. But he can't. He is encased in rock and its grip is tightening.
- [18:30]
Todd Russell
Each time I heaved up to try and free myself, that rock compacted tighter and tighter in around my chest cavity. I just remember laying there in the pitch black darkness and I prayed, prayed to the big fella above to take me because I couldn't handle being in the pain that I was in.
- [18:47]
John Hopkins
The life is being squeezed from Todd's body. He stops resisting. But then something comes to him.
- [18:59]
Todd Russell
Lying there, just waiting to take my last breath, I had an image appeared. And that was an image of myself and Carolyn and the three children from a family portrait that we had done only weeks before. I took that as inspiration. I thought, well, you know, I'm not going to let this beat me.
- [19:25]
John Hopkins
It's 9:30pm over 900 meters beneath the earth's surface. Todd fills his lungs and screams for help. His only hope is Brant. But in response, there's only silence. Deafening, suffocating silence. Trying to stay calm, Todd calls his colleague's name again and again. And then Brandt's voice answers from somewhere close by, telling him to hold on. Slowly, the enormous pressure bearing down on Todd starts to ease. He can feel Brandt's hands clawing at the rocks around his head, scraping sediment away from his airways. With his face cleared of debris, Todd coughs, splutters and foams at the mouth. The boulders pressing down on his torso are forcing the contents of his stomach up through his throat. Vomit spills down into his beard. Gradually, though, movement returns to his limbs. He lets out a guttural animal roar and with a burst of explosive power manages to wrench his arms free of their entrapment.
- [20:46]
Todd Russell
We set about removing the rock that was covering my entire body. And you know, some of them rocks were the size of 50 cent pieces and others were sizes of footballs.
- [20:56]
John Hopkins
Todd's headlamp was destroyed in the rock fall. Brantz must have gone out too, because their only source of light comes from the flame of his cigarette lighter. It flickers, revealing bent steel railings and lumps of crystalline quartz. The entire tunnel has collapsed around them, forming a tight encasement around the tele loader basket. Beyond the railings, on all four sides, rubble seals them in. They're trapped, imprisoned in a space no bigger than than a dog creaked.
- [21:32]
Todd Russell
We couldn't stand up. All we could do was toss and turn, lie on our side or lay on our back. And you know, if you lay it on your back, you just looked at rock, you know, 300 mil above your head, you know, like it was virtually touching you on the nose.
- [21:47]
John Hopkins
Finally, free from the rubble, Todd lies on his side, breathing hard. His compressed nerve endings fizzle with pain. The only part of him that doesn't hurt is his left leg, which has lost all feeling. Meanwhile, Brandt has found his headlamp. A tiny mercy. He switches it on. The beam sweeps across the cramped, confined space, illuminating a scene even worse than they feared. The ceiling isn't a Single slab of rock, but rather a precarious jumble of loose shards, some as sharp as knives, packed together like a horizontal Jenga tower.
- [22:29]
Todd Russell
We had hundreds of tons of rock suspended above us like a three dimensional jigsaw puzzle. And you know, we only needed one piece of that rock to move and it was going to be fatal for both Brandt and myself.
- [22:42]
John Hopkins
A trickle of water drips from a crack between the rocks. Brandt removes his helmet and positions it below the leak. It could provide a life saving source of drinking water. Todd notices that Brandt's breathing is shallow and his hands are trembling. As a member of the mine rescue team, Todd has undergone confinement training for scenarios exactly like this. One of the first things they teach you is to do your utmost to stay calm. Claustrophobia can be a killer. The next lesson is to keep those around you calm too. Todd reassures Brandt that help will arrive soon, that their colleagues will already be looking for them. They just need to follow protocol, sit tight, stay ready, and wait for rescue. But as the two men lie there, the rock above them shudders, releasing a shower of dust and shale.
- [23:42]
Todd Russell
You know, both Brandt and I were laying there listening to the sights missing to the ground. It just sounded like a freight train running up and down a railway line. You know, you could hear it coming, you'd hear it go across the top. You hear more rock fall on top of us.
- [23:55]
John Hopkins
Brandt turns to tot. He's not just going to lie here and wait to get crushed. He's going to find a way out. Their only option is a small pocket of empty space to the right of the basket. Todd still can't feel his left leg. He's immobile. But Brandt manages to squirm through the railings into this gap. He scours the walls, his headlamp flitting across a sloping mound of dense compacted scree. The remains of the half finished retaining wall they started building earlier. Maybe by tunneling through this pile of gravel, he could find a way out. Brandt claws at the ground, digging until his rubberized gloves have worn away at the fingertips.
- [24:39]
Todd Russell
I was incapacitated. There wasn't anything I could do. But Brant took it upon himself to try and dig us to freedom. But you know, with the rock that had fallen, some of them rocks were half the size of motor vehicles. You know, like you basically, you physically couldn't move them.
- [24:56]
John Hopkins
Undeterred, Brandt continues digging. He becomes feverish, frantic, a man possessed. They come up with a system. Brandt digs for 20 minutes, then rests for 10. When 10 minutes are up, Todd calls out. And Brandt resumes his task. He keeps this up for an astonishing 24 hours, a full day and night. Finally, Todd hears Brandt cry out in dismay. He has hit a wall of wire mesh blocking his path. He's managed to burrow about 5 meters, but without bolt cutters to break through this obstacle, that's as far as he's going to get. Brandt returns to the basket, caked in dirt, his spirits shattered. It's confirmed. Their one potential escape route is blocked. All they can do now is sit here and wait.
- [26:04]
Kayleigh Cuoco
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- [26:31]
John Hopkins
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- [26:36]
Kayleigh Cuoco
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- [27:06]
John Hopkins
It's Thursday night. Todd glances at the glowing digits of his watch. They've been trapped for over 48 hours, though down here, time has become meaningless. With no way to distinguish night from day, it all morphs into one perpetual present. To conserve its battery, they've kept the head torch switched off unless absolutely necessary. The one upshot of sitting in total darkness is that they don't have to stare at the ceiling, watching the rocks quiver above their heads, suspended seemingly in defiance of gravity.
- [27:42]
Todd Russell
We didn't know from one second to the next that the next piece of rock that falls could be the straw that broke the camel's back and bring it tumbling in on both Brent and myself and kill us.
- [27:52]
John Hopkins
All they can do is cling onto the hope that they'll be found before the roof comes crashing down. It's an excruciating test of mental resilience. In the endless sprawl of ours, Todd and Brandt lean on each other for moral support and distraction. But getting to know each other proves More difficult than expected. It quickly becomes clear that aside from their shared occupation, the two miners have nothing in common.
- [28:21]
Todd Russell
I like Fords, he likes Holden's, you know, I like shooting, he likes fishing, you know, two completely different people.
- [28:28]
John Hopkins
One thing they do have in common is a family waiting for them above ground. Brandt tells Todd all about his wife and two kids. Todd in turn speaks about Carolyn and their 3. 11 year old Trent, 9 year old Madison, and little Liam, just 5. When the conversation peters out, both men retreat into their own little worlds.
- [28:52]
Todd Russell
The mind is probably the biggest thing to get you through it. And for me to get through it was that image of me and Carol and the three kids and you know, each time I got down and you know, I wanted to cry and give up, I closed my eyes and focused in on that image and thought, no, I can't. I've got to fight for that. I fight for that.
- [29:22]
John Hopkins
Todd breathes in and out slowly. He's got to stay level to keep despair at bay. Beside him, Brandt shivers violently. The water leaking through the ceiling has increased from a drip to a trickle. It splashes on the rocks and onto the two miners whose body temperatures are steeply declining. Their stomachs growl with hunger. All they have for food is a muesli bar that Brandt fished out of his pocket. They've resisted until now, but as they approach their 50th hour trapped, they allow themselves a tiny nibble. How much longer can they last? By now, the mine rescue team must have worked out where they are. They'll be strategizing how to access their position. Todd and Brandt just need to be patient. But deep down, a nagging feeling pulls at them. It's been more than two days since the catastrophic rock fall and the rescue will already have been downgraded to a body recovery. Nobody thinks they're still alive down here. Todd's eyes snap open. He's been drifting in and out of consciousness in a kind of twilight zone between sleeping and waking. But he knows that sound. An unmistakable hydraulic roar.
- [30:52]
Todd Russell
We could hear an underground loader working in the 925 level coming in, taking dirt with every bucket, getting closer and closer and closer to the machine that both Brent and I were on.
- [31:02]
John Hopkins
A few moments later, the basket jerks forward. Todd and Brant sit bolt upright. The vehicle must have just collided with their tele loader, shaking the arm and their basket. Their colleagues are so tantalizingly close.
- [31:22]
Todd Russell
We used, you know, the tools that we had, whether it was a hammer or a shifter or a rock or whatever. We bashed on the steel cage to try and notify the people that were on that machine that were alive, to try and let them hear us somehow.
- [31:37]
John Hopkins
They pound the railings, metallic reverberations echoing around the basket. They just need to make themselves heard, to let their colleagues know they're alive. After a while, the vehicle goes quiet. There's a tense pause, and then it's the sound. Todd and Brandt have been waiting for the blast of the horn to notify the trapped miners that they've been heard. But help is on its way.
- [32:04]
Todd Russell
To lie there and hear a horn beep. You know, we look at each other and think, hey, we've just been found.
- [32:12]
John Hopkins
Todd and Brandt pump their fists and slap each other on the back. Overcome with relief, Brandt offers a celebratory cigarette and Todd, even though he's been trying to quit, accepts. They puff away happily, laughing and chatting about the first thing they'll do on the outside. But as Thursday flows into Friday, their good mood falters. Something's wrong. Why is nothing happening? Gradually, the truth dawns on them. The horn blast from the vehicle wasn't to signify to Todd and Brandt they'd been heard. It was for another reason.
- [32:52]
Todd Russell
When the horn sounded, it was to notify people in the area that it was starting up to leave. Here we are again, the emotional rollercoaster of thinking we've been found alive, only to find out that we weren't found alive at all.
- [33:11]
John Hopkins
It's Friday morning. Todd listens to the distant sounds of machinery. It proves people are still looking for him and Brandt, even if the search is just for their bodies. The whining drills and rumbling boggers now provide a constant soundtrack to their imprisonment, along with the endless drip, drip, drip of leaking water. Then suddenly, a different sound ripped through the mine.
- [33:38]
Todd Russell
I remember lying there in the. In the pitch black darkness with Brandt some 30 meters from where we lay. They started using high energy explosives. They started drilling and blasting their way to where they believed both Brandt and I were.
- [33:53]
John Hopkins
The walls ripple dust showers down from cracks in the ceiling. Swearing through gritted teeth, Todd and Brandt cover their heads and squeeze their knees into their chests, bracing themselves for the next blast.
- [34:09]
Todd Russell
Each time they blasted them, fractures in the rock opened up more and more. And after the third blast, it was just like standing under a shower head. We had that much water coming in on us. So it was, it was a complete disaster because now we're suffering from near hypothermia.
- [34:25]
John Hopkins
Brandt writhes around in distress, teetering on the verge of hysteria. Todd tries to calm him down. But Brandt is near beside himself, certain that the next explosion is going to bring the ceiling down on top of them. With little else he can do, Todd glances at his watch, takes a pen out of his pocket and hikes up the left trouser leg of his overalls.
- [34:48]
Todd Russell
I had nothing to ride on, so on my left leg, I started recording times and dates of the drilling and blasting, so that if anything they did on the outside cured both Brent and myself, that when our bodies were recovered, there was evidence to prove that we were alive at that particular point in time. And what they did on the outside killed us.
- [35:07]
John Hopkins
Todd scribbles away. Soon his leg is covered in scrawled markings. Eventually, the explosions stop. The ceiling hasn't caved in. It's another desperately close call. Solemnly, Todd hands Brandt the pen. They take it in turns to write private messages of farewell to their families.
- [35:31]
Todd Russell
Then, on my right leg, I set about writing goodbye letters. And I wrote goodbye letters to every individual in my family. Now, that is. That is the hardest thing that I've ever had to do in my life. What do you put into words to people that mean the world to you that you may never see again? You know, it's just so hard. It's just probably one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life.
- [35:58]
John Hopkins
It's Sunday afternoon, five days since the rock falls. Todd and Brandt lie silently in the dark. Their nerves are fried following further blasting and drilling yesterday. As their rescuers come, tormentors continue the search. The explosions are getting closer, more violent. Knowing they need to keep up morale, the two miners have attempted to restart conversation, to no avail. Even their musical tastes differ. Todd is a country and western fan, while Brant listens almost exclusively to rock music. But in the wake of the sixth and loudest explosion, Todd is becoming desperate. Surely Brunt must know some Kenny Rogers. He actually does. He knows the singer's most famous song, the Gambler. And so, semi hysterical, the pair launch into a unique rendition. Soon they're belting out the chorus and slapping their knees, singing at the top of their lungs. But then suddenly, Todd grabs Brandt's arm. He's heard something.
- [37:16]
Todd Russell
We were singing Kenny Rogers a Gambler the past time, and I thought I heard voices. And I said to Brant, shut up. You know, and then I yelled out, and to our surprise, voices come back. We finally made communication with that outside world. So that was pretty surreal.
- [37:33]
John Hopkins
The incredulous voices ask, todd, Brandt, are you there? The trapped miners scream back in response, communicating that, yes, they're alive, they're not injured. They have water but no food. Todd's voice is soon croaky from yelling, but he is giddy with joy. They've been found. The men on the other side of the rock fall reassure them that help is coming. Soon after, Todd inquires about Larry. He was sitting in the cab of the tele loader when the tunnel collapsed. Did he make it out? A devastating answer comes back. No. Larry's body was recovered from the rubble several days ago.
- [38:20]
Todd Russell
You can imagine the emotional roller coaster, the highs of, the highs of being found alive and then finding out that our good friend Larry had passed away. So it's probably the lowest of lows throughout the whole course of that rescue is knowing that, you know, our mate isn't going home to his loved ones.
- [38:38]
John Hopkins
Right now, though, Todd and Brandt must stay focused on their own survival, which is still far from guaranteed. Having located them, the process of actually reaching the two trapped miners will be monumentally difficult. The work not of hours but of further days. The first step is to supply them with basic survival essentials. To do so, the rescue team drills a narrow hole through to them and feeds a plastic pipe along it.
- [39:08]
Todd Russell
And that there became our link line to the outside world. Everything that we received in the way of food, water, medication, fresh clothing, you know, whether it was letters written from home from loved ones, or we were writing letters back.
- [39:25]
John Hopkins
Above ground, it's action stations. It's clear by now that using explosives to get through to the miners is too dangerous. Todd and Brandt are trapped behind a rock wall almost 16 meters thick. In order to carve a tunnel wide enough to extract them, it's decided that a special type of drilling apparatus is needed. A massively powerful machine called a raise bore. But there's a snag.
- [39:52]
Todd Russell
So what they did, they come up with a scenario. They're going to bring in a raised ball machine. Now, a raised ball machine in underground mining is designed to bore vertically, you know, not horizontally. And it's never been done in the world before.
- [40:06]
John Hopkins
The machine isn't designed for lateral drilling. Plus, Beaconsfield Mine doesn't have a razor bore just lying around. They'll have to ship one over from the Australian mainland. That'll take 24 hours at the very least. By now, the story of the two trapped miners has become national news, with practically rolling coverage on all the major networks. For such a high profile incident, the rescue team are able to bring in the country's top experts to figure out the horizontal application of the raised bore. The question upon which Tod and Brad's lives now depend is Will it work?
- [40:47]
Brandt Webb
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- [41:48]
John Hopkins
It's Thursday, May 3, 2006, deep in the bowels of Beaconsfield Mine. It has taken four days for the rescue team to ship a raise bore over from the mainland and then to transfer the huge machine underground. From inside the basket that's been their home for the past nine days, Todd and Brandt listen to the drill rattling against the diamond hard quartz. 15 and a half meters of rock stands between them and the rescue team. Above, a kilometer of earth threatens to bury them at any second. Nobody knows if the drilling will cause another seismic event. To distract themselves, Todd and Brandt read and reread the letters their families have sent down to them, drawing strength from their messages of love and support.
- [42:43]
Todd Russell
One of the things that I requested when I was underground was that photo of myself and Carol and the three kids. And I took that and I stuck it on a rock some 300 mil above my head so that when I got down I looked at it and I looked at that photo a thousand times a day and thought, that's what I'm fighting for.
- [43:00]
John Hopkins
The drilling continues all day Friday into Saturday, the raised boar chewing methodically through the rock. Todd and Brandt have been supplied with a video camera to transmit a live stream back to the control room. Up there on a TV screen, rescue personnel watched the two trapped miners hunched and compressed into the tiny space. Any moment they could witness their horrific final moments. But eventually the raised bore reaches its target location directly below the basket. Now there's less than 2 meters separating the rescue team from Todd and Brandt. The final stage of the plan is to use PNEUMATIC jackhammers to chip away the final few feet of rock. But once again, there is a problem.
- [43:50]
Todd Russell
But what they found is when they went in with the jackhammers, that the rock was that hard, like a normal house slab that you build your house on is around 25-30 MPa. This rock that they were trying to break with jackhammers was well over 300 MPa. So it was one of the hardest rock that endured in underground mining.
- [44:08]
John Hopkins
The rescue team scratch their heads. It's like trying to break through granite with a toothpick. A new plan is needed. In the early hours of Sunday morning, Todd receives a call on the radio telephone. It's an explosives expert named Darren Flanagan. He explains that the only way to penetrate the final 2 meters of rock is by blasting through with low grade explosive cartridges. Todd listens gravely. More explosions are the last thing he wants, but it might be the only way.
- [44:46]
Todd Russell
So I hung up the telephone and said about talking to Brent and you know, explaining to him and he was adamant that it wasn't going to happen because of what we'd experienced. So I said, brent, we have to put our lives in their hands. I said, you know, we've potentially got to trust these men to bring us home safely. Otherwise we're not going home.
- [45:07]
John Hopkins
Eventually, Brandt relents and Todd gives Darren the go ahead. He and Brandt put on their hard hats, safety glasses and earplugs. Then Todd provides Darren with a countdown. Three, two, one. Todd removes his earplugs. Was that it?
- [45:31]
Todd Russell
And it just went boom. And it was no louder than that. You know, there was a few choice words that were said back to, back to Darren and you know, I've got a shotgun at home that's got more warmth than that.
- [45:44]
John Hopkins
But even now, they're not there yet. Over the course of the next 29 hours, the painstaking process continues. As the rescuers inch closer to the basket, Todd and Brandt feel the explosions more vigorously. Dust dribbles from the ceiling. Larger stones spit from between the cracks. What if it all falls apart in the final few seconds? Eventually, the rescuers manage to blast to within just 30 centimeters of the basket. They are practically within touching distance. But they can't rush this final delicate step. Narrow probes are gently chiseled into the rock until finally they break through. Todd clears away the gravel from the floor outside the basket, brushing aside dirt and debris, eventually revealing a beer mat sized hole. With a pair of eyes staring up at him, Contact. A few hours later, the hole is sufficiently enlarged for the miners to be brought out. It's decided that Brandt will go first.
- [47:07]
Todd Russell
I can tell you that the next six, seven, eight minutes, or whatever it may have been I spent alone inside that basket was probably, probably the longest six, seven, eight minutes of the whole entire 321 hours. You know, we just endured this. 14 days of hell. Brandt's now going home to his loved ones. It all turns pear shaped now I don't get to see mine.
- [47:29]
John Hopkins
So Todd breathes deeply and waits. After an agonizing eight minutes, he hears the voice of rescue coordinator Pat.
- [47:42]
Todd Russell
I remember laying there and then all of a sudden I heard a voice over my, my right shoulder and it was, it was Pat Ball and he said, it's your turn now, big fella.
- [47:50]
John Hopkins
Todd gathers up his letters and photographs. Before he leaves, he pauses just for a moment to take one final look around the basket. And then 14 days after becoming trapped, he lowers himself down into the hole and straight onto an awaiting stretcher. Todd and Brant are taken to the crib room where makeshift showers have been set up. They wash the grime from their filthy, aching bodies. Then, clean and dressed in fresh overalls, they ride the cage up to the surface where their families are waiting.
- [48:29]
Todd Russell
To walk back out of there and just walk straight, you know, pretty much to the arms of our loved ones was just something that, you know, I've never been able to explain that feeling. And it's one of the questions that's most commonly asked, what was that feeling like to be back in your arms with your loved ones? You know, for 18 years I've tried to explain that feeling and I haven't been able to do it, but it's something that I'm going to have with me for the rest of my life.
- [48:55]
John Hopkins
Following their return to the surface, Todd and Brandt are taken to hospital for an assessment. After only a few days, they check themselves out so they can attend the funeral of their friend and colleague, Larry.
- [49:09]
Todd Russell
We came out and we were able to attend that and to sit there and see his widow sitting, you know, five metres from me with his two kids and, you know, the youngest one of them was six months old. And, you know, he's going to grow up not knowing what a champion Blakey's father really was. So, you know, hopefully one day I can have the opportunity and sit down with that young fellow and just tell him exactly what a champion bloke his father was.
- [49:36]
John Hopkins
In the years since the Beaconsfield mine disaster, neither Todd nor Brandt have been able to fully shake the demons of those 14 days. Trapped underground. For Todd, the experience has left deep, permanent scars.
- [49:51]
Todd Russell
I was diagnosed with clinical depression, severe ptsd, which then, you know, I was unable to work anymore. So, you know, I'm on a pension now because my body has finally taken its toll. I've been through times where Caroline and the kids wanted to leave because of the person I become, because I hadn't seeked help where I should have. You know, it was a reality check. So I started seeing psychologists and stuff like that and getting myself back on track. And, you know, at the end of the day, Beaconsfield was a big. Well, it was a contributing factor to a marriage separation.
- [50:28]
John Hopkins
All these years later, Todd is still working hard to reconnect with his children after doing and saying things he regrets.
- [50:36]
Todd Russell
I love my children with all my heart. They're the best part of me. You know, they keep me going. But the unfortunate thing is things were said, things were done which can't be taken back. And, you know, I'm trying my best every day to be the best. You know, I wasn't the best father leading into 2006. I was not the best father post 2006, but I'm, you know, I'm trying, trying my best to be the best version of a father that I can be now to my children.
- [51:15]
John Hopkins
Todd quit working in the mine immediately after his rescue. He has subsequently gone into motivational speaking, sharing his tale of resilience and fortitude. But if he were to impart just one lesson from his experience, it's that no matter how tough you think you are, the strongest act of all can be admitting you need help.
- [51:37]
Todd Russell
That's just me, how I'm structured. I don't like to be seen as weak, but I can tell you that there is a soft side to me where I do struggle. And, you know, one thing I'll say it doesn't. It doesn't make you any less of a man, and it doesn't make you any less of a woman to actually speak up and go and seek the help that you need, because there are professionals out there that are trained to help you get back on track.
- [52:07]
John Hopkins
Todd and Brandt have drifted apart over the years, though to this day, Brandt is the only person with whom Todd will share what he wrote to his family while they were trapped underground together. Some things remain sacred. The media frenzy following the rescue was difficult for Todd, who never felt comfortable being branded as a hero by the press. He wants to shine the light on his rescuers instead, and simply counts himself a very fortunate man.
- [52:37]
Todd Russell
To me, I'm not a hero. There was 220 people who were involved in my rescue. As far as I'm concerned, they are the true heroes. They reunited me with my family as a sacrifice to them and their families if anything had gone wrong. So to me, they are the true heroes. I am a survivor. A very lucky survivor.
- [53:15]
John Hopkins
Next time on REAL Survival Stories. We saw across the majestic heights of the Himalayas following two men who risk their lives to save others. As elite mountain rescuers, Richard Lehner and Daniel Oftenblatten are used to making split second decisions under extreme pressure. But in April 2010, one rescue mission seems to defy even their experience and training. They must save a group of climbers marooned at an impossible height deep in the Annapurna Range. With time running out, the pair must employ an audacious rescue technique. Dangling Richard on the end of a 90 foot rope hanging beneath a helicopter flying at 23,000ft. How do you pull off a rescue when your helicopter can barely stay airborne? And how do you save lives when your own hangs in the balance? That's next time on REAL Survival Stories. Listen today without waiting a week by subscribing to Noiser Plus.
- [54:22]
Kayleigh Cuoco
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- [54:36]
Brandt Webb
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- [54:41]
Kayleigh Cuoco
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- [54:47]
John Hopkins
It's better over here.
- [54:48]
Brandt Webb
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