An eight-year-old boy was “incredibly lucky” to survive after falling 200m down a slope and suffering little more than a fractured leg at Dangars Falls, near Armidale.
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NSW Ambulance Duty Operations Manager Inspector Neale Waters said the boy was camping in the area with his family when he went to the viewing platform about 4.45pm on Saturday.
Insp Waters, who attended the scene, said it was believed the boy climbed through the cordoned area to retrieve a personal item when he slipped.
“Just below the platform is a walkable area but he’s slipped again somehow. It was a slide and roll affair and the momentum kept him going,” he said. “He came to rest about 200m from the viewing platform. What’s stopped him from falling to the bottom,
I don’t know. It’s about a 300m drop so there was another 100m to go.”
NSW Ambulance Paramedic Niall Webb was one of the first rescuers on scene and immediately took to the slope, experiencing a similar, slippery passage to reach the patient.
“It’s not a sheer drop, but you couldn’t walk straight down to where he fell. You had to walk backwards and forwards across the gorge to get to him. There are walking tracks down there but he wasn’t on a walking track,” he said.
“Paramedic Webb was able to walk - if you can call it that – to the patient. He took basic equipment with him, pain relief, a first aid kit and splint because we were told the patient had a fractured femur before we went down to him.
“He gained access to the patient, gave pain relief, reassured him and splinted the fractured leg.
“SES volunteers arrived and put ropes down to the patient so that when the time came for people to get out, they had something to hang on to, to guide them. They also put night sticks down along the track to show people the way out.”
A rescue helicopter was tasked and the patient, Paramedic Webb and a NSW Ambulance doctor were winched out with the assistance of a Special Casualty Access Team paramedic, five hours after the alarm was first raised.
Insp Waters said the boy was in relatively good spirits, especially as he was able to speak to his parents from the location.
“He had a talk to mum and dad. There were civilians down there who had a CB radio which helped us a lot. We had no communication - no portable radio or mobile phones would work.
“He told his father, ‘Dad, I’m going on a helicopter ride!’”
Insp Waters described the patient as “incredibly lucky” to have survived the fall without more serious injuries.
“It was a combined operation between our fellows, the SES and the Lifesaver helicopter team. All knew what their jobs were and everything ran smoothly.”
The patient was airlifted to Tamworth Airport before being transported by road ambulance to Tamworth Base Hospital in a stable condition.
