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Dr Jorian (Jo) Kippax is a Retrieval Consultant with Ambulance Tasmania’s Critical Care and Retrieval Service (AT-CCR), a Trauma Specialist at the Royal Hobart Hospital, a reservist officer in the Australian Defence Force, team leader with AUSMAT disaster relief and an advisor to Tasmanian Police Search and Rescue. Jo was awarded the Lithuanian “Life Saving Cross” and is the 2026 Australian of the Year for Tasmania. Jo was a keen expedition mountaineer claiming multiple Himalayan first ascents until his wife got fed up with it. Now he continues to enjoy rock-climbing, bushwalking and white-water kayaking with his kids.
In 2024 an experienced Lithuanian rafter became entrapped in the of the most remote and wild rivers on the planet. Over the next the twenty hours a massive rescue effort attempted to free him from the rapids of the Franklin River without success, leaving only one option to save his life -- a hazardous underwater lower limb amputation. This is the story of that rescue with a focus on teamwork, trust and training plus a large amount of adaptation and adaptive decision making.