A woman who became trapped between boulders in the New South Wales Hunter Valley for seven hours has thanked her rescuers.
Matilda Campbell found herself in the nightmarish situation after she tried to retrieve her phone from a rocky three-metre abyss and became wedged deep inside, with only her feet visible.
Her friends tried to extricate her from the precarious position for an hour before calling Triple Zero to help.
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“I wanted to give the biggest shoutout to my friends, the team who worked so hard to get me out, I’m forever thankful as most likely I would not be here today,” Campbell wrote in a post on Facebook.
“I love you guys and you mean the world to me.”
Campbell’s rescue made headlines around the world after photos were shared by NSW Ambulance on Facebook on Tuesday.
Responding with good humour, Campbell posted one of the news articles from NBN, with the comment: ‘Not my feet on display like that’, along with a laughing emoji.
‘It’s safe to say I’m the most accident prone person ever. I am okay – just have some injuries I’m recovering from, no more rock exploration for me for a while!” she wrote.
Paramedics worked with a team to remove the heavy rocks, including winching out a massive 500kg boulder, to try and create a safe exit.
Photos shared by NSW Ambulance on Facebook showed the woman’s feet visible as she was wedged inside the dark hole.
Campbell’s rescue was no mean feat with a team of paramedics needing to remove the heavy rocks, including winching out a massive 500kg boulder, to try and create a safe exit.
“In my 10 years as a rescue paramedic I had never encountered a job quite like this, it was challenging but incredibly rewarding,” NSW Ambulance Specialist Rescue Paramedic Peter Watts said.
“Every agency had a role, and we all worked incredibly well together to achieve a good outcome for the patient.”
NSW Ambulance confirmed Campbell was unable to get her phone back.
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