Four-hour mission to rescue young woman seriously injured in cliff fall

Rescuers battled an incoming tide for more than four hours to winch a 20-year-old woman to safety after she fell about three metres down a cliff on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

The young Maroochydore woman was airlifted to Sunshine Coast University Hospital last night in a serious but stable condition, after she fell onto rocks at Sunshine Beach.

The woman, aged in her early 20s suffered serious head, spinal and pelvic injuries from the fall, the Queensland Ambulance Service confirmed to Yahoo7 on Thursday.

She was pulled to safety after a rescue mission that involved two helicopters, two Sunshine Beach life guards, 16 fire and rescue officers, the Queensland Ambulance Service and a flight doctor, according to the Sunshine Coast Daily.

Pictures from the QG Air’s Q500 chopper show how emergency teams worked in the dark to save the woman during the grueling four-hour rescue mission.

“QGAir Rescue 500 was tasked last night to assist with extraction of a injured female at the bottom of Paradise Caves rock gorge just north of Sunshine Beach,” a Rescue 500 Brisbane spokesperson said in a statement Thursday morning.

“The lady was stretcher winched with Rescue 500 Flight Paramedic accompanying her to the aircraft and airlifted to Sunshine Coast University Hospital in a stable condition.”

Noosa Fire and Rescue station officer Rob Frey told the Sunshine Coast Daily the rescue was complicated and treacherous as workers contended with fading light, with the Q500 chopper and its night vision capability initially two hours away.

Lifeguards were also wary of the impending 11pm high tide growing closer as the rescue mission dragged on, but she was freed by about 9pm.

The first attempt at extracting the woman with the RACQ LifeFlight helicopter was abandoned because of fading light, Mr Frey said.

As part of the complex safe manual rescue plan, crews lifted the woman up the cliff face by ropes and pulleys, then back down to the north end of Sunshine Beach.

There, the woman was transferred by two Sunshine Beach Surf Life Saving Club all terrain vehicles and another supplied by Queensland Fire and Rescue.

“Emergency services worked well together in what were really tricky circumstances,” he said.