65-year-old man suffers stroke while travelling Kimberley outback

The wife of a 65-year-old man who collapsed from a stroke while holidaying at the Bungle Bungles campground in the East Kimberley has taken to social media to thank the efforts of local emergency service workers who played a crucial role in rescuing her husband.

On Thursday, July 13 about 6am at the Bungle Bungles campground, 65-year-old traveller Ray Bosch collapsed from a stoke, going limp in his wife’s arms.

Describing her husband as “relatively fit” Mr Bosch’s wife Gail Bosch said the ordeal was “very unexpected”.

“We both had full medical before we left. Ray was low risk for stroke,” she said.

“At 6am Ray got out of the tent, said he felt dizzy, then collapsed in my arms. His whole left side went limp. I’m a registered nurse, so I was quite sure Ray had a stroke.”

Given the remote location of the campground and the limited means of communication, the situation posed significant challenges for the couple.

“I had no phone reception with Telstra,” Mrs Bosch said.

“I tried to contact rangers on radio with no luck so I asked a fellow camper if they had Optus which they did and then I contacted triple-0.

After eventually being able to make contact via radio at 6:10am, the rangers soon arrived with medical equipment and reassurance.

But with the ambulance being estimated to take three hours to get to Mr Bosch, the decision was made to start driving Mr Bosch for the airport at the Bungle Bungles to be picked up by the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Remarkably, on the way to the airport the group intercepted the ambulance and Mr Bosch was transferred to the ambulance for the rest of the trip to the airport.

An RFDS spokesperson confirmed Mr Bosch was transported from the Bungle Bungles by RFDS about 11:30am and taken to Broome before being transferred to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth for further treatment.

“I was able to travel to Broome on the RFDS with my husband while these amazing humans drove our car out, hooked up the van and have placed the car and van in a secure place,” Mrs Bosch said.

Thankfully, Mr Bosch has already started showing signs of a speedy recovery, according to Mrs Bosch, who said her husband was “doing super”.

“He has regained most of his mobility, just some balance issues but with on going physio it should be OK,” she said.

“They found a blood clot his leg and chest which is probably the cause of stroke. Hopefully, Ray can make a full recovery (and) we can continue doing our lap with me as the driver, of course.

“Once again, a huge thank you to all the people involved in Ray’s care. We live in amazing country and the people of the Kimberley are just extra special.”