A woman who was wedged between two rocks for seven hours after she tried to retrieve her phone has been rescued.
Emergency services were called to a bushland area in the Hunter Valley wine region earlier this month following reports of a woman being stuck between two boulders.
The NSW woman had tried to retrieve her phone from between the rocks but had slipped, fallen down a three-metre crevice, and was hanging upside down.
Friends of the woman spent about an hour trying to rescue her but eventually called Triple Zero for help.
NSW Ambulance Specialist Rescue Paramedic Peter Watts worked along with a team to create a safe access point.
The team built a hardwood frame around the area before starting the arduous task of removing the heavy rocks.
Photos of the rescue mission showed the woman’s feet visible as she hung upside down inside the dark hole.
The woman was stuck in a tight ‘S’ bend which proved challenging for the rescuers, who spent over an hour trying to navigate her through the tight space.
The woman became wedged upside down after she slipped down a three-metre crevice between two boulders
Emergency services spent seven hours trying to free the woman
The woman was safely freed after rescuers moved a 500kg boulder
A specialised winch was also used by the team to move a massive 500kg boulder.
‘In my 10 years as a rescue paramedic I had never encountered a job quite like this, it was challenging but incredibly rewarding,’ 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 said the woman was safely freed after seven hours with only minor scratches and bruises, however her phone was not so lucky.
‘The patient was unable to retrieve her phone,’ NSW Ambulance wrote.
