In hot water: Louis' story
To Louis... the RFDS was the race against time to save his leg.
Louis Orr, a young city slicker-turned-cattle ringer, was enjoying his fourth year at a station in the remote Barkly Region of the NT, when a freak accident struck.
The 21-year-old and his mates had set off waterskiing at the station's local watering hole – a popular spot for workers wanting to cool off from the Territory's extreme heat.
On his fifth run for the day, Louis came off second best, falling into the water.
When he swam back to his mates and tried pulling himself up onto the jet ski, he realised he couldn't move his left leg.
With a broken tibia, a severed nerve, three ruptured ligaments in his knee, and no blood flow to his lower leg due to a crushed artery, Louis had only a matter of hours to undergo emergency surgery at the Royal Darwin Hospital for a chance to save his limb.
Watch more stories from real Territorians
