Woman spends seven hours hanging upside down between boulders after trying to retrieve phone

The woman became trapped while trying to reach her mobile phone

Holly Evans
Tuesday 22 October 2024 12:37 EDT
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The woman became trapped between the boulders while trying to reach her phone
The woman became trapped between the boulders while trying to reach her phone (NSW Ambulance Service )

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A woman spent seven hours trapped upside down between two boulders, after becoming stuck while trying to reach for her mobile phone on a hike in Australia.

The ordeal began after the woman lost her device walking in New South Wales’ Hunter Valley region earlier this month, and decided to attempt to retrieve it.

She soon became trapped, with her friends contacting the emergency services after failing to free her from between the large rocks.

Rescue workers embarked on a “challenging” operation, which saw them winch a 500kg boulder out of the way and navigate efforts to extract her from the ‘S’ shaped position she had found herself.

It took seven hours for emergency services to extract her from the boulders
It took seven hours for emergency services to extract her from the boulders (NSW Ambulance Service)

In a post on their social media page, Peter Watts, a paramedic with New South Wales Ambulance service, said: “In my 10 years as a rescue paramedic I had never encountered a job quite like this, it was challenging but incredibly rewarding.”

Photos shared by the ambulance service on Facebook show her hanging between the boulders by her feet, as well as efforts to remove the boulders in order to remove her when the area was stable.

In an interview with ABC Australia, Mr Watts said: “We were all like, how did you get down there - and how are we going to get her out?”

Despite being stuck for several hours, she only suffered minor injuries and scratches.

Both she and emergency services however were unable to retrieve her mobile phone.

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