Tourist suffers horrific broken leg jumping from waterfall
A British expat has sustained a series of horrific injuries after leaping 30 metres from an iconic Northern Territory waterfall.
After downing “10 beers” on Saturday afternoon, Josh Jones took one look at Jim Jam Falls in the Kakuda National Park and thought to himself, “I can send that”.
Launching himself from the cliff’s edge, the 25-year-old smashed into the water’s surface as onlookers, oblivious to the damage he had just done, cheered on from the banks.
The Yorkshire local had broken his tibia, fibula and suffered severe ligament damage on both legs, as well as some facial bruising.
“I realised when I came up that I broke my leg straight away but I wasn’t in too much pain, the adrenalin was just pumping,” Mr Jones told Yahoo7 News.
Several of the eleven mates he was out with noticed something wasn’t right and swam out with a floating noodle before helping him back to the bank.
Remarkably, four strangers visiting the falls on the same day just happened to be doctors, and rushed to assist Mr Jones.
“They straightened out my leg and splintered it,” he recalled.
A team of at least 20 people joined in the four-hour rescue mission, assembling a makeshift stretcher, using torches to light up the pathways, running ahead to get help and others running back with water.
“I can’t thank them enough for dragging my a** out of there,” he said.
The newly-fledged Darwinite was stretched out in the back of the van as they drove back to camp, waiting for an ambulance. It wasn’t until then that the severity of his injuries began setting in.
“That’s when shock started to kick in, I couldn’t really think,” he added.
After a 90-minute wait, an ambulance rushed Mr Jones to the nearby Jabiru Clinic before he was later airlifted to the Royal Darwin Hospital.
He is now awaiting surgery on his left leg.
A qualified mechanic, Mr Jones admitted he now has concerns what impact his injuries will have on his current visa application.
“I need to have a medical for my visa. If it’s unsuccessful I’d have to go back [to England] and try again,” he said.
He said he is desperate to call Darwin home for the foreseeable future.
