A man is recovering in hospital following a death-defying first date in the Glasshouse Mountains in Queensland.
The climber plunged 30 metres, sparking a major emergency rescue, which all unfolded in front of the girl he was trying to win over.
Scenes that should have resembled a rom-com quickly turned into an action film, after the first date took an unlikely turn on the Sunshine Coast.
The pair set off for a romantic Easter weekend hike earlier today, free climbing the rock face, until the 27-year-old man slipped, falling 30 metres down Mt Beerwah.
“Yeah, quite a significant fall and mechanics of injury are high,” Queensland Fire Department’s Luke Champman told 9News.
It isn’t what falling head over heels is supposed to look like, with his fall leading to a multi-agency response, with emergency crews scaling cliffs with gear in hand.
“They were able to package the patient in conjunction with QAS [Queensland Ambulance Services] and move him to a location that was suitable to be winched/extricated by a helicopter,” Champman said.
The hiker was found unresponsive, suffering severe head and pelvic injuries.
“He’s really lucky,” Jeff Bradfield from Queensland Ambulance Services told 9News.
A group of army reserves on a training walk witnessed the man fall, rushing to the bottom of the cliff to help.
“They were able to render first aid pretty much immediately to the casualties and provide us good location details,” Champman said.
His date lent a hand to first responders, as a rescue helicopter flew in and winched him to safety.
She’s now by his side at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, where her date is in a stable condition, receiving treatment for his injuries – and, perhaps, a bruised ego.
