A woman in Australia’s Hunter Valley became stuck upside down between two boulders for seven hours after trying to retrieve her phone earlier this month.
Photos shared by the New South Wales (NSW) Ambulance service show just the bare soles of her feet visible as she was trapped. The incident occurred on private property in Laguna, about 120 kilometers (75 miles) from Sydney, as she and her friends were walking.
After dropping her phone, the woman slipped face-first into a 3-meter (10-foot) crevice between two large rocks. Her friends spent an hour attempting to free her before calling emergency services for help.
Seven-Hour Rescue Effort
At 9:30 a.m. on October 12, emergency crews, including police, ambulance, fire, and volunteer rescue teams, responded to the call. For the next seven hours, they worked to free the 23-year-old woman. Rescuers removed several heavy boulders and constructed a frame to safely extract her from the crevice.
One of the biggest challenges was navigating the woman through a tight ‘S’ bend. A winch was used to move a 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) boulder, and by 4:30 p.m., the woman was finally freed.
Miraculous Escape
Amazingly, the woman sustained only minor scratches and bruises. Peter Watts, a specialist rescue paramedic with NSW Ambulance, described the rescue as one of the most unique he’s encountered in his decade-long career.
“In my 10 years as a rescue paramedic, I had never encountered a job quite like this,” Watts said. “It was challenging but incredibly rewarding, and every agency worked together seamlessly to ensure a good outcome.”
The woman, whose identity has not been released, was taken to the hospital for observation. However, her phone remains trapped between the rocks.
