An Aboriginal elder who trekked 60 kilometres in sweltering heat in WA's remote Kimberley to seek help for his stranded family — including his wife who uses a wheelchair — thought he was going to die in the attempt.

Robert Dutchie, his wife, granddaughter, and five children were reported missing in early November, four days after they failed to arrive from a perilous journey through one of the most remote and rugged parts of northern WA.

All eight were rescued after a gruelling search spanning hundreds of square kilometres of bushland — but police and rescuers say they are lucky to be alive.

Mr Dutchie, a diabetic, said he farewelled his wife after the car broke down, thinking he may not see her again.

"I was really worried … I lost my voice, no water, I couldn't talk proper," he said.

"I told my wife, I don't want you to pass away on me … she made me cry."

Robert Dutchie and Mary Lou Bedford are still recovering from their ordeal. ( ABC News: Joshua Spong )

Acting Senior Sergeant Jamie Forbes, who had to abandon his own police car after it became bogged during the search, said it was a remarkable series of events.

"It could have been tragic in the end," he said.

"It was a great outcome. We were all very happy, but it could have been a lot worse."

Woman had to crawl through sand

The family's nightmare started out as a well-intentioned road trip from the community of Warmun to the even more remote Imintji community 200 kilometres away on the Gibb River Road.

Mr Dutchie and his wife decided to take a back road, with the three adults and five children squeezed into a troop carrier.

Mr Dutchie with and his family and rescuers after their ordeal in the Kimberley. ( Supplied: Steven Jones )

It is the kind of rocky, precarious track that only the most hardened four-wheel-drivers or experienced Aboriginal locals would take on.

On the second day of travel, the car's clutch gave way and it got a flat tyre, leaving the group stranded in the remote Teronis Gorge.

They were hundreds of kilometres from mobile phone reception, and were not carrying either a satellite phone or a location beacon.

After staying the first night in the car, they started the long trek to the Yulumbu community.

Mr Dutchie's 63-year-old wife Mary Lou is an amputee, but was forced to ditch her wheelchair due to the soft sand and had to crawl, with her great-grandchildren devising a way of rotating two mattresses in front of her, so she could crawl on those rather than the dirt.

Unable to continue, she and her 29-year-old granddaughter Myrelle decided to set up camp with the children, erecting a makeshift shelter from branches.

'My thongs were so thin from all the walking'

Having run out of food, the adults were able to draw on the bush survival skills they learned in childhood.

"We smashed up boab nuts with an axe, to make it fine and powdery, and all the kids really liked it," Mr Dutchie said.

Mr Dutchie set off on an ill-fated 60-kilometre walk to try to reach the Yulumbu settlement.

"The heat got me, because it was steaming hot … I had my thongs, but they got real thin from all the walking."

By the time he was rescued three days later, he was sitting resting in the shade, unable to think straight but aware he had very little energy left.

"I was really worried, because I didn't have much left … I was overheated inside and I couldn't go on anymore so I started making short steps, I could hardly go on anymore," he said.

Tough search ends in relief

Acting Senior Sergeant Forbes said the search for the family had been challenging, and it had been a huge relief to find them at their makeshift camp, sheltering from the sun.

"But then we were notified Robert Dutchie wasn't there. He'd walked off two days ago to get help, and we were quite concerned to be honest," he said.

Mr Dutchie was rescued by helicopter. ( Supplied: Nick Sundblom )

Five hours later, a helicopter search team from Mornington Station found the exhausted Aboriginal elder 60 kilometres from the group.

Dazed and dehydrated, he was helped into the helicopter and flown to Yulumbu for a tearful reunion with his wife and family.

A week later, Mr Dutchie and Ms Bedford are still recovering from the ordeal.

"Another couple of hours more I would have been dead," Mr Dutchie said.

"I was lucky, I'm still alive."

Police said the case was a reminder of the importance of carrying emergency communication equipment, and people staying with their vehicle if they became lost or bogged.