Darren
Flanagan

Speaker Profile

Late on a Sunday night in April 2006 Darren Flanagan received a call that would not only change his life forever but the lives of two other men he had never even met. For five days, miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb had been trapped underground after a minor earthquake triggered a mine collapse in the small town of Beaconsfield in Tasmania. How that one phone call changed his life from that of an ordinary family man to a real hero of the great escape is an emotive, dramatic and inspiring story. It is one of courage, relentless pressure, self belief and sheer determination.

Flown by a private Lear Jet at midnight from his home town Nowra, Darren, an explosives expert, was taken directly to the mine. It was to be a flight that would change his life forever.

Darren was nickednamed 'The Gun' by Todd and Brant because he was the one who charged and fired the explosives that eventually released them from their tomb, 925 metres underground.

He spent a full week underground after his arrival, test blasting at the 630m level to simulate what he hoped he would never have to do. As this had never been done before anywhere in the world, he presented the results to the mine management who asked Darren to eventually blast to within 300mm of Todd and Brant.

All the while Darren realised that he carried immense pressure on his shoulders, knowing that if he failed he would spend the rest of his life with the whole world saying, 'That's the guy who killed those miners.'

As the distraught miners' families watched, Darren started to blast his way closer and closer to the trapped men using specialist explosives that were designed to help reduce impact on expensive infrastructure but were never designed to be used near human beings.

Darren has spent a lot of time underground but had never had to work in a cracked and broken tunnel 16 metres long and only 1 metre in diameter and almost 1000 metres inside the earth. He is so claustrophobic he can't do up a sleeping bag but he worked for 29 hours straight with ice cold water soaking him to the bone, afraid of closing his eyes. He could visualise the anxiety of the two men and his own family.

'When you are underground you can usually hear the ground talking to you, moaning and groaning. When it stops talking, you worry. The ground had now stopped talking.'

Firing that very first shot was the hardest thing Darren will ever do in his life. He was petrified and so were Todd and Brant, but every other method to reach the men had already been tried and failed, with blasting the last resort and the boys' last chance.

Darren crawled over razor-sharp rocks, letting off 65 explosions, all the time in contact with Todd and Brant by phone. They counted down together: three, two, one, fire, so the miners could brace themselves for the effects of the explosions. Thinking it over, Darren stumbled off to sit and cry with relief that he hadn't killed them.

Speaking to Todd and Brant over the phone, they were aware of the increased risks but encouraged Darren to carry on: it was their only chance. 'Please don't leave us here mate, you must promise me that you will stay until it's finished'... Todd's words still ring in Darren's head.

Wrestling with his own demons, Darren slowly crawled back up the tunnel, dragging himself by his arms because his knees were so badly cut and swollen. The tension in the air as Darren prepared for the final shots was unbelievable. Amazingly he brought the rescuers to within less than 30 centimetres of Todd and Brant.

Darren has received hundreds of letters from all over the world recognising him as the man who blasted the miners to freedom; some people have called him the new Red Adair. But his most treasured letter is from Todd that simply reads: 'Thanks for saving my life.'

Darren is a humble and reluctant 'celebrity' who has appeared on Sunrise at Seven, The Today Show, A Current Affair and Sixty Minutes, to name a few. But for audiences who hear him speak he is an ordinary guy who shows what can be done when called upon and the potential to be extraordinary.

Travels from New South Wales