'I could have been dead': Teenager who broke both ankles in rock jump thanks 'heroic' rescuers
A teenager who broke both ankles while jumping off rocks at Blairgowrie has praised the rescuers who winched her to safety.
Georgia Hall is confined to a wheelchair for the next four weeks and says she'll be forever grateful to those who came to her aid.
She had just done "a big star jump" into five-metre-deep water "but ended up going so fast through the water ... I ended up hitting the sand," she said.
"I managed to swim up with my arms and I started to scream out, 'my ankle is dislocated'."
The 16-year-old then limped back to her family as Blairgowrie Beach was turned into a triage and the Air Ambulance flew in and winched her to safety.
"They were just so amazing in keeping us both calm and they looked after her so beautifully," Georgia's mum Bianca said.
"I just don't know what would have happened if they hadn't have come."
Georgia has had surgery on her broken tibia and fibula, while her other fractured ankle will heal by itself.
Despite the pain she is in, she believes it could have been far worse.
"I was just lucky I didn't go in head first because I could have been dead today," she said.
Just before Christmas Georgia broke her nose while coaching gymnastics, so it has not been a lucky few months.
But despite this most recent setback, she's determined to come back stronger than ever - and it's all thanks to her heroic rescuers.
"I would just like to thank everyone who was there, because I honestly don't know how I would've done it without any one of them being there," she said.
