5 months ago
When Ingrid LeFebour woke up connected a actual slab, covered successful a expanse successful nan morgue connected nan distant Indonesian land of Nias successful 1976, she had nary thought really she sewage there.
Nor did anyone other cognize her destiny – immoderate believed she had died successful bizarre circumstances.
LeFebour’s disappearance features prominently successful the movie Point of Change, which chronicles nan “discovery” of Nias by Australian surfers successful nan 1970s and nan often dubious consequences for nan section community.
So erstwhile Point of Change had its first screening successful Fremantle past month, location was 1 personification nary 1 expected to beryllium among nan assemblage – LeFebour herself.
“It was a spot bizarre, actually, erstwhile I recovered out,” LeFebour says. “All of a abrupt there’s group calling me; it was a spot overwhelming. After nan screening, group came up to maine and everybody wanted pictures pinch me, and they told me, ‘you’re a legend’, but that was each news to me.”
The bonzer communicative began astir 50 years ago, erstwhile LeFebour travelled to Nias from Perth arsenic an 18-year-old backpacker pinch her fellow astatine nan time, Stuart, successful hunt of a recently discovered surf spot called Lagundri Bay. It had first been surfed a twelvemonth earlier by Australians Kevin Lovett and John Geisel, and successful 1976 Lovett returned pinch his woman and her siblings. They were camped retired astatine nan activity erstwhile LeFebour and Stuart joined them.
“I met [Stuart] successful Perth and he told maine astir immoderate friends of his who had discovered this land and that he was trying to spell complete location to meet them,” LeFebour says. “I thought, ‘That sounds for illustration an adventure. Can I travel along?’ We near together and travelled astir Thailand and Indonesia.”
Stuart fought pinch nan different surfers successful Nias and near soon aft but LeFebour stayed connected astatine Lagundri. Soon, malaria deed nan camp. When it became clear that superior aesculapian curen was needed, Lovett’s group abandoned nan campy to return to Bali but LeFebour didn’t spell pinch them. The past nan others saw of her she was being carried connected a stretcher atop a motortruck leaving nan village.
When Lovett returned to Nias successful nan 1990s, locals told him of rumours that LeFebour had died astatine nan hands of headhunters and suggested her caput whitethorn person been buried successful nan foundations of a adjacent bridge.
Years later, successful nan early 2000s, nan Point of Change director, Rebecca Coley, was successful Nias erstwhile she first heard nan communicative of a female who had gone missing erstwhile surfers were camped location successful nan 1970s. The movie chronicles nan extremist changes astatine Lagundri arsenic a consequence of nan influx of surfers, 1 of galore Indonesian locations that exploded successful fame among Australians and different outsiders crossed nan decade.
While moving connected nan film, Coley saw footage of LeFebour from nan clip she disappeared, prompting her to look further into nan story. “The first personification who told maine astir nan Ingrid communicative was Safarma, an elder who was … surviving connected nan constituent astatine nan time,” Coley says. “He told maine nan full communicative astir these guys that were hanging astir nan visitors … and they were talking astir really they wanted to cod heads because they were doing a building project. Safama and a mates of nan others were convinced that she’d been taken by these guys.”
Coley had tried without occurrence to find LeFebour since 2016, believing nan worst whitethorn person happened. “I contacted missing persons, migration and besides did evident things for illustration Googling and searching Facebook galore times,” Coley says. Without knowing a past name, neither Coley nor Lovett was capable to way her down.
It wasn’t until friends of LeFebour heard an entreaty for accusation connected nan power successful Perth that she realised others wanted to find her, and she was capable to springiness her type of events.
“I was sick successful nan shelter [in Nias], I wasn’t eating and that’s why I was truthful anemic that I had to beryllium carried to nan colony connected a stretcher,” LeFebour says. “I was delirious astatine nan time. I don’t retrieve getting to nan village. I was successful and retired of consciousness.”
With a fever truthful precocious it was assumed she wouldn’t past nan night, LeFebour was placed successful nan morgue astatine a adjacent clinic, wherever she awoke anemic and disoriented but very overmuch alive. She wrapped nan expanse meant to screen her corpse astir her assemblage and toppled disconnected nan slab to hunt for help.
“I didn’t cognize wherever I was, what had happened aliases wherever nan remainder of them were,” LeFebour says. “There were these French-type doors, very flimsy, truthful I pushed them unfastened and crawled out. Somebody came on and I deliberation I gave them nan daze of their lives.”
Recalling nan events now, LeFebour pieces together that she had traded a golden mesh cigaret container that a friend had fixed her earlier nan travel to bargain a spot connected nan ferry to Medan, nan nearest metropolis connected nan land of Sumatra. “I retrieve erstwhile they put maine connected nan ferry, I was lying down,” she says. “I couldn’t moreover beryllium up and it was a very unsmooth crossing.”
Still excessively anemic to eat coagulated nutrient aliases walk, LeFebour slow began her recovery. Eventually she returned to Perth, wherever she knowledgeable recurring bouts of malaria for months until she was treated astatine Royal Perth Hospital and afloat recovered.
The seriousness of what had happened didn’t deter LeFebour from early travels. She went connected to hitchhike solo astir Australia and proceed her intrepid life.
For LeFebour, what happened astatine Nias was conscionable portion of nan journey.
“This sewage maine reasoning astir a batch of my adventures,” she says. “I mean, you conscionable move connected pinch your life.”
Coley says she had ever hoped LeFebour would move up astatine nan screening successful WA.
“I couldn’t judge it erstwhile it really happened and she had her ain astonishing type of events. It really seems for illustration a occurrence that she made it location alive.”
