Update Video
KNYSNA NEWS & VIDEO - Duran de Villiers, who was part of a group with John Bozman and Marc Rodgers that spotted the missing cyclist Alan Broderick yesterday, described the area where they found Broderick as being in the 'middle of nowhere'.
Broderick, 58, had been missing since Saturday 3 December when his wife Gail dropped him off at the Diepwalle Forest Hut to embark on a cycle through the Knysna forest to Plettenberg Bay.
He was expected in Plett by 14:00 but never arrived, and the family reported him missing on Sunday. Search and rescue efforts began immediately, and teams of emergency services as well as volunteers began combing the forests.
This is where De Villiers, Bozman and Rodgers came into play. De Villiers, a qualified helicopter pilot, on Sunday took to the air to begin his search for Broderick with a rough idea of the area he needs to search.
On Sunday night he, Bozman and Rodgers put their heads together and began surveying maps to see where Broderick could have potentially got lost.
This led them to the area they searched on Tuesday. After some bad morning weather they took to the air in the afternoon with the idea of flying up the Bitou River, and it didn't take long before they found what they were looking for.
"It was something crazy, like 45 seconds into the flight, and we spotted movement in a clearing along the river," De Villiers explained. They had found Broderick.
"Nobody would have found him there on foot, it really was pretty much in the middle of nowhere." De Villiers and co then hovered low enough to tell Broderick to stay put, and alerted search and rescue teams. "We called the AMS helicopter and they flew out to airlift him from the area," he said.
VIDEO: Missing Alan Broderick found and airlifted from the Knysna forest. Video by Duran de Villiers
Broderick was taken to hospital yesterday for further medical treatment and has since been released.
His wife Gail confirmed this morning that he is home, where he is making a strong recovery.
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