'HELP': message scrawled in muddy road saves man stranded in the outback

The man, who was suffering from aching feet and severe dehydration, scrawled 'HELP' on a muddy road with an arrow pointing in the direction he was walking.

He survived by rationing two protein drinks as he searched for assistance around 200 kilometres southeast of Charleville in western Queensland.

His "remarkable survival story" took a turn when a couple of cattle station managers, Bronte and Max, spotted his message near their remote 60,000-hectare property.

"We were checking flood waters and the property fences to make sure the cattle were OK when we saw the sign on the road," Bronte said.

"Near the help sign were these arrows in the mud and we followed them all the way along the road.

"As we came around a sharp bend near an old stock route, we saw a little shelter with a teepee made from an old lick feeder tub."

Bronte said she pulled up and asked if he was the man that emergency services had been searching for since March 30.

"I said, 'My God, do you know that you're a missing person and that everyone is looking for you'? He pointed at the shelter and said 'yes'," the cattle station manager said.

"He looked completely exhausted and was sunburnt and dehydrated. He said all he could think about was sleeping for two weeks."

A LifeFlight aeromedical crew was dispatched to airlift the man to Charleville Hospital where he was reunited with his family.

LifeFlight paramedic Aaron Hartle praised the cattle station managers for jumping to action.

"They did the rescuing, gave him food, got his vehicle out of the bog and looked after him until we got there," Mr Hartle said.

"They did a remarkable job - typical western Queenslanders, dismissive of their own actions to help someone in need."