Beaconsfield mine survivor Todd Russell is leaving the Launceston General Hospital today to spend his final days at home with his family.
He shared the news on Facebook on Tuesday, saying there were no treatment options left.
“After years of pain, uncertainty, appointments, treatments, setbacks and endless battles plus the emotional exhaustion of having to pick myself up time and time again, have left me with nothing left to give,” he wrote.
He said “there are no further options” and that he has “no more fight left in me”.
“I will leave hospital tomorrow after 8 and half months for the last time to see out my days in my own home surrounded by my wife, kids, loved ones & friends.”
Russell’s health struggles were first made public in July 2024, when it was announced he had received “some unfortunate health news and has been unwell”.
In October 2025, he posted a photo from hospital to say he had started treatment for an undisclosed illness.
He said at the time he was hoping to “get back to my old self”.
In his latest post, he also thanked the people who cared for him.
“A massive thank you to the incredible staff at the LGH, their overwhelming support, care & kindness have helped to soften the daily grind of what has been an incredibly difficult journey.”
More than 1,600 people reacted to the post within hours.
Russell and Brant Webb were trapped almost a kilometre underground when an earthquake set off a rockfall at the Beaconsfield gold mine on Anzac Day, April 25, 2006.
Their workmate Larry Knight was killed.
Rescuers found Russell and Webb alive in a small steel cage on April 30, 2006. They were freed on May 9, 2006, after 14 days underground, in a rescue followed around the world.
That same day, the pair checked themselves out of the LGH to go to Knight’s funeral.
Russell later spoke openly about how the disaster affected his mental health.
In a 2016 interview with 60 Minutes, he said bottling up his trauma almost cost him his marriage and his life.
He went on to share his story as a motivational speaker. He recently retired from the Beaconsfield volunteer fire brigade after more than 30 years.
The disaster marked its 20th anniversary in May.
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