Maria Ann Soper’s death in January 1999 at the age of 21 was a tragic reminder of how dangerous it is to overheat and dehydrate in the hot, humid weather of the northern wet season, and how quickly death can occur. If it isn’t raining in January, it is usually the hottest month of the year, especially in the Julia Creek region. In a dry January, it is hot 24 hours/day and humidity can reach 100%.
Maria’s car broke down about 50km from Dalgonally and she started walking, though she wore a sleeveless shirt and no hat, and left the small amount of water she had behind in the car. Passing by other water sources she apparently walked nearly 16km in the middle of the day. Unfortunately Maria died within hours of setting off on foot, and was found by a passing neighbour not long afterwards. The Soper family requested a second inquest due to unanswered questions, and this inquest was held in November 1999. The coroner found that no-one was to blame for Maria’s death. Maria’s mother, Dianne Soper, called for young people starting work on cattle stations to be better prepared (by employers and/or employment agencies).
Frustrating as it is, it is almost always better to rest with a broken down vehicle until someone drives past or comes looking for you, even if this takes a couple of days or more, than to expend large amounts of energy and sweat by attempting to walk to the nearest house (usually many kilometres away), even along a road. And most people don’t realise just how difficult it is to see a person from the air, compared to the relative ease of spotting a vehicle. The golden rules are to always advise someone reliable of your route and expected arrival time (so people know if you are late and start looking for you); travel in a reliable, well-maintained vehicle – ideally with a second spare tyre [and know how to change flat tyres. If you don’t have a reasonable car, then stay away from remote roads]; drive carefully, be suitably dressed and always carry plenty of water. And take notice of safety advice given by locals.
All simple stuff, akin to basic city survival advice such as women not walking alone at night down dark, deserted streets in dodgy areas. But unfortunately these days the general population are probably more likely to overlook such basic dangers as heatstroke, mistakenly presuming that it wouldn’t happen any more, when death can occur within hours.
Maria Soper’s death is one of the most tragic wastes of a young life – if she had stayed with her car she would not have died, she would have been found sitting in it several hours after it broke down. It probably never occurred to the bloke in the vehicle in front, that Maria would try to walk if her car broke down.