Only way is up for Beaconsfield survivor in Mark Knight tribute toon

On the 25th of April, Anzac Day, in 2006, the small northern Tasmanian town of Beaconsfield suffered a 2.3 magnitude earthquake.

While the tremor made little impact on the surface that night, one kilometre below ground it caused a massive rock collapse in the shafts of the local gold mine.

Seventeen miners were below ground at the time, and 14 managed to scramble to safety, leaving three missing.

The three trapped miners were Larry Knight, Brant Webb and Todd Russell, who were working together on an underground mine telehandler* machine.

When mine rescue crews reached the cabin of the machine two days later, they unfortunately found Knight had been killed by the collapse. However, Webb and Russell were working at the other end of the telehandler in a basket on its extended telescopic arm. They were trapped in a tiny cage, buried up to their waist in rubble and tonnes of fallen rock.

So began the job of getting to the two men to see if they were alive. It seemed impossible that they could have survived but crews were determined to get to their fellow workers no matter how slim their chances appeared.

The danger in any rescue or retrieval operation is that more people may be injured or killed in the process. Explosives were set to try and blast a way through to Webb and Russell, who, unbeknown to their rescuers could hear the explosions getting closer. Fearing they may be killed by another collapse, they were writing last messages to their families on their work clothes.

When rescue crews were about 15m away, they called out to the two miners, who heard them and yelled back, “We’re in here!”

They were alive! The good news made it back to the surface and to the miners’ families, their colleagues and went around the world. Media descended on Beaconsfield, as did more rescue experts and the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) national secretary Bill Shorten, who supported the workers’ families and fronted the media cameras and reporters every day, who were updating a nation perched on the edge of its seat as the rescue took place.

Shorten became a household name as a result and went on to be elected to the Australian parliament, ultimately becoming leader of the federal Labor Party.

Back in the collapsed mine, Russell and Webb were told that their mate Larry Knight had not made it. The two trapped miners had survived so far with only a muesli bar and by collecting groundwater seeping through the rocks in a hard hat.

A remote control machine was brought in to try to clear fallen rocks and it managed to get very close, with one rescuer somehow crawling his way through to actually shake the hand of Todd Russell. But it was deemed too unsafe to try and clear a path here to extract the men because all the rock debris above them was so finely balanced and would most likely collapse.

A tunnel would have to be dug from another direction. Rock at this level is five times harder than quartz*, so the going would be slow. And so began the process of drilling a small access tunnel about 90mm in diameter through to the two men. It was lined with PVC pipe and used to pass through water, food, clean clothes, communications equipment, medical supplies, torches and even iPods with their favourite band the Foo Fighters on them!

On May 3, the word was given to drill a one metre diameter tunnel through the final 16m of rock to come up beneath the cage that the men were trapped in. On May 7, the rescuers reached a section of rock so hard that drills and jackhammers were useless, so they had to use low-impact explosive charges. When the horizontal part of the tunnel was completed, rescuers now had to dig a few metres upwards to reach Russell and Webb. It had been 14 days since the initial collapse but at 4.27am, the rescuers miraculously broke through to the trapped pair.

Freed from the small cage they had been confined in, they were medically checked at the base of the main shaft, cleaned up, then sat in wheelchairs for the ride to the surface. At 5.30am, the lift reached the top. As the lift cage door opened, Todd Russell and Brant Webb both stood up, leaving the wheelchairs behind. They walked out unaided with their arms in the air to rapturous* applause and cheers.

Getting back to life after an event like that is not easy. Their lives had changed forever, with constant media attention, then a movie, not to mention the strain all that has on relationships. The Foo Fighters even released a song called the Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners – but Russell suffered bouts of depression and poor health after the event.

Russell always rallied* and took on his demons. He became a motivational speaker*, telling his story and encouraging people to seek professional help when their mental health was at risk. He never went back underground but became a firefighter and captained the local brigade at Beaconsfield. He fought to hold onto his marriage and became a loving grandfather. He was a keen hunter and a very good Australian rules footballer.

But fate has always dealt the hard cards to Todd Russell and 20 years after his mine ordeal, the news came through this week that he had died after a long battle with leukaemia*. He spent eight months in hospital and after exhausting all medical options, he was mentally drained and decided enough was enough.

He and his family thanked the nurses and doctors at Launceston General Hospital, then he returned home to see out his final days with family and friends around him.

He passed away on November 3, aged 54.

A life like that deserves a send off and I decided to draw a cartoon to say farewell to Todd Russell and celebrate a worker, a local bloke, a person who had his struggles, a great Australian.

I thought back to that scene where he and Webb emerged from the mineshaft lift cage. It is an iconic* moment in Australian history.

I decided to take that moment and use it in a tribute cartoon to the late Beaconsfield miner. I pictured him in my mind in the lift cage, dressed in his mining gear looking as if he is headed back down into the mine. Someone calls out to hold the lift and asks, “Going down?”

The angel wings I have drawn on Todd Russell’s back reveal his actual destination. This time he is not going down, but headed all the way up.

Vale, Todd Russell.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• mine telehandler: telescopic forklift, a lifting machine used to carry and place heavy materials
• quartz: very hard, common mineral that is usually colourless
• rapturous: displaying extreme pleasure, happiness and excitement
• rallied: came together to achieve a goal, overcome a challenge, provide support or made a shared effort to make something happen
• motivational speaker: someone who has overcome great adversity or achieved great success who is paid to give speeches that motivate and inspire other people to feel more enthusiastic and determined
• leukaemia: a serious blood disease in which the body produces too many white blood cells
• iconic: very famous or popular, especially being considered to represent particular opinions or a particular time

EXTRA READING

Fireys save mum and bub koalas

Is panning for gold a prospect

Second gold rush on Oz horizon

QUICK QUIZ

1. What caused the initial underground rock collapse inside the mine?
2. How far underground were the three miners when the impact hit?
3. How many days did Todd Russell and Brant Webb spend trapped underground?
4. After the disaster, Todd Russell became a first responder himself in what role?
5. Who was the miner who tragically did not survive the mining disaster?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. What makes a hero?
What made Todd Russell a hero? Write a tribute to him that helps other kids understand how an ordinary man can become a real hero.

Time: allow at least 30 minutes for this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social Capability

2. Extension
When Todd Russell and Brant Webb walked out of the mine, they made sure that they clocked off.

Do you know what this means? Use your research skills to find out. Then, write a paragraph explaining why you think it was so important for the men to do that.

Time: allow at least 30 minutes for this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social Capability

VCOP ACTIVITY
What happens next?
Imagine the whole Beaconsfield story as an animated series made up of three cartoons. The three cartoons tell the complete story and this cartoon of Mark’s is Part III. Think about the details Mark has shared in this explainer and draw two cartoons that help tell the rest of Todd Russell’s story.

Time: allow 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Visual Arts, Visual Communication Design, Critical and Creative Thinking