Woman's heartbreaking tribute after watching partner fall off Sydney cliff
The girlfriend of a 20-year-old man who died after falling off a Sydney cliff over the weekend has paid tribute to “the man of [her] dreams”.
Dion Papanakos fell 25 metres from a cliff at Dunningham Reserve in Coogee around 3pm on Saturday, NSW Police said.
Paramedics were winched down and found the young man in cardiac arrest and suffering critical head and chest injuries, NSW Ambulance said.
Despite their best efforts, he died at the scene.
Papanakos’s partner, Miranda, revealed in an Instagram tribute to her boyfriend on Monday that she had witnessed the accident.
“He slipped off the edge of a cliff and had fallen to his death,” she posted alongside images and videos of the couple.
“To have been standing there watching the whole thing unfold ... I’ve never felt so much pain in my life, to the emotion and heart ache experienced in that moment.
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“The ambulance tried everything they could do but it was too late. When I saw the police tapering off the area I knew he had not made it.
“I became physically paralysed from the shock and was hospitalised afterwards. The process of losing someone who you were so deeply connected to is something I would never wish upon anyone in this world.”
Miranda said Papanakos was “the most amazing, caring and loving partner anyone could ask for”.
She said they shared numerous experiences, including two “beautiful” holidays, during their 10-month relationship.
The young woman said she was planning an interstate trip with her boyfriend for his 21st birthday in March.
“Take care of each other, love each other, never go about your day with anger and resentment towards anyone, because life is too precious and can be taken away from you at any given moment,” she said.
NSW Ambulance said their thoughts go out to Papanakos’s friends and family and urged people to avoid high cliff top areas because “tragedies can occur in a split second”.
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