Well, I am not convinced. He did work with a S61 operation out of Geraldton, but he was their engineer according to a transcript of a legal case against the pilot. (J. Anderson)
Maybe someone could ask Nigel Osborne:
Moorabbin incident: Geoffrey Edelsten [Archive] - PPRuNe Forums (scroll right down)
I do not recall him having scar tissue around his neck, but then it was a long time ago.