The young woman trapped face down for seven hours between two rocks has been reunited with the lifeguards who rescued her.
Matilda Campbell, 23, from Newcastle in New South Wales, was walking in the Hunter Valley earlier this month and became trapped while trying to retrieve her mobile phone from the gap in the rocks.
Campbell was reunited with his rescuers at Rutherford ambulance station in Maitland, north of Sydney, on Tuesday.
“I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for them, so I’m very, very grateful and appreciative of the services and the wonderful people that we have,” Ms. Campbell told reporters.
The ordeal began when Campbell’s phone slipped off a rock while she sat with a friend admiring the view.
But when you bend down to retrieve your device. She fell headlong between the rocks in an awkward position and was trapped.
Ms Campbell tried unsuccessfully to get back out but soon realized she was trapped.
His feet were trapped between two large rocks and he was hanging upside down.
Matilda Campbell, 23 (pictured), from Newcastle in New South Wales, was walking in the Hunter Valley earlier this month and became trapped for seven hours between two rocks while trying to retrieve her mobile phone.
Lifeguard Jason Sattler told ABC: “What we were faced with was just… two-foot plants and it looked like they were levitating in the air because she had dark pants on and it was pretty dark in the rock crevice.”
The friends spent about an hour trying to rescue Ms Campbell, but eventually called for help.
NSW Ambulance Specialist Rescue Paramedic Peter Watts led a team that began by building a wooden frame around the area before beginning the arduous task of removing the rocks.
Photos from the rescue mission showed the soles of Ms Campbell’s feet visible as she hung upside down inside the dark crevice.
Ms Campbell became trapped in a sharp “S” curve that prevented her from being simply extricated, and rescuers spent more than an hour trying to navigate through the tight space.
“The scratch on my side was starting to hurt… and there were sticks in my hair, there was dirt everywhere, I could see spiders in the distance,” she said.
“It was very intense not being able to do anything with my body and realizing that I am truly stuck.”
One of the first to arrive on the scene was the Cessnock team from the Voluntary Rescue Association (VRA).
Jason Sattler told the alphabet“What we were faced with was just… two-foot plants and it looked like they were levitating in the air because she was wearing dark pants and it was pretty dark in the rock crevice.”
Sattler said if he hadn’t been with a friend who alerted rescuers, the situation could have easily turned fatal due to exposure to the elements and starvation.
In a painstaking operation to access Ms Campbell, teams had to remove seven rocks weighing between 80 and 500 kilograms.
In a painstaking operation to access Ms Campbell, teams had to remove seven rocks weighing between 80 and 500 kilograms.
Following his horrific ordeal, Campbell spent three days in Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital.
She was treated for significant grazes to her face, hip, back and shoulder and a fractured vertebra.
Campbell said he was relatively lucky.
“I could have hit my head, I could have broken a bone, I was so grateful I didn’t because that would have made trying to get me out a lot harder,” she said.
“I can’t believe I haven’t had more injuries if I’m honest.”
Ms Campbell was philosophical about losing her phone.
“Phones are replaceable, but your life is not,” he said.
Last week, Ms Campbell posted on social media thanking supporters.
‘I just wanted to thank everyone, literally from all over the world, sending me messages to see if they’re happy that I’m safe and healthy!’ Ms. Campbell wrote.
“It means a lot to me to know that I have so much support after a very traumatic incident.”