A Step Too Far

Pete and Jools' lives were turned inside out in one big flash of white. The horrible news came in an early morning phone call to the farm.

Julia Bland: I had a bad feeling. I had a really bad feeling about it.

Pete was just half a day away from completing a historic crossing of the Antarctic Peninsula with his best friend Jay Watson... Just a day away from heading home to Jools and their young daughter.

But the weather had turned ugly... And so the men decided to hunker down for the night, wait out the storm.

Jay Watson: The tent was getting battered. We were getting battered.

That's when Pete stepped outside to grab supplies...

Jay Watson: And he - he sort of yelled out to me, "Look, I'm just gonna go get supplies out of the kayak."

Then…nothing.

Jay Watson: The uncertainty of what - where Pete was, was after about five minutes, I was like, where - this can't be right, you know. Where is he? So I yelled out a few times.

No response. Jay poked his head outside the tent…saw nothing but white…and then a glove.

Jay Watson: All I could see down the slope was a glove, his glove in the snow. And this big scar where the actual avalanche had come down the slope. So that's when I knew -- knew he'd actually been taken by the avalanche.

The fierce wind had masked the massive rumble of an avalanche, which had swept away his best friend.

Jay Watson: I thought, how is this gonna play out, you know, Pete's got a family, a wife, you know? I was half responsible for this whole expedition, this whole trip.

Julia Bland: I didn't think it was going to-- work out well. I just thought-- this just doesn't bode well for him and for us.

Her only comfort: that Pete was with Jay, his best friend, and someone Jools trusted.

But Jay had no idea if Pete was even alive.

Jay Watson: I knew if he'd gone down the mountain, he would've gone off this cliff edge into a crevasse.

Jay scrambled to the edge of the crevasse, peered over... And his heart sank.

Jay Watson: I could see him down in the base. He was on his back. He was looking like he was tryin' to move but he just couldn't.

Back home, Jools was getting bits and pieces of information - her imagination filling in the blanks.

Julia Bland: I don't know if they had mentioned that there was an avalanche. Either way, I knew that he was in terrible, terrible strife.

She had no idea Pete had made a fourteen story free-fall onto solid ice, and lay sprawled like a broken doll. Had he broken his back? Jay made the dangerous descent to Pete's side, tried to talk to him.

Sara James: What did you say to him?

Jay Watson: I obviously went straight to him and - and started chatting. And I just knew straightaway that I wasn't getting any response whatsoever. Just a distant look in his eyes. There was no registering me or the situation or where we were. It was just nothing.

Pete was bleeding from the ears, nose and mouth. Jay didn't know whether Pete would even survive the night. As for the pledge that he and Pete had made -- that if one were unable to continue, the other would go it alone --

Jay Watson: You might think that way. But it's-- it's-- in practice, it do-- it's not-- not quite that easy.

Back in Australia, Pete's national fame meant his family's private drama had become a very public spectacle.

News crews descended on the farm. Jools hid her fear and spoke.

Julia Bland: It's the sort of thing that Pete loves to do and that's the man that I married and it's to be expected and I've always embraced what he's done and encouraged it. I may have to re-think that strategy.

Back in the crevasse, Jay placed a tent over his unconscious friend, tried to keep him warm. He contemplated carrying Pete out, but feared he might injure him further. Yet staying in the crevasse meant another avalanche could bury them both.

Jay Watson: It's certainly something, you know, I've tried to shut out. I mean, I knew what was down there. I knew it was a pretty ugly spot down there.

The captain of the yacht radioed for help -- but couldn't get any quickly.

I've just been talking to the helicopter pilot; he says it's impossible to land there, it is just not possible to land; it is far too dangerous.

Jay stayed by his friend's side for three long days… melting icicles to give Pete sips of water… his bouyant buddy now helpless as a baby. Meanwhile, information was trickling in to Jools.

Julia Bland: They're trying to get him out. We're trying to get a chopper in. The weather's really bad. And he's unconscious but he's alive.

A team from the yacht made the torturous climb up to the crevasse. Using a door from the boat as a stretcher, they hoisted Pete out of the crevasse, then dragged him to a spot where a helicopter could safely land. Pete was flown to a hospital in Antarctica, while Jay set off to finish the journey the pair had begun so optimistically.

And Jools -- who hadn't slept in days - scrambled to get the first flight she could to South America, where they'd take Pete as soon as he could be moved.

Julia Bland: I didn't know which end was up. I just knew I had to get on that plane and through those doors.

Pete's femur had been forced out of his hip socket, he had multiple broken ribs. But those weren't the worst injuries of all. Jools knew Pete had also fractured his skull. How bad was the injury to his brain? Would he -- and they -- ever be the same?

Julia Bland: He looked like a stranger. You know, he had a beard. And he was scrawny. And he was battered. He recognized me. He didn't know Olivia's name. I just thought, "This guy is a wreck. He's a train wreck."

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