[CRESTHOME – 20 OCTOBER 2011 AT 08H30]
A man believed to be in his mid thirty’s had a narrow escape after falling 15m down an embankment while walking on along a cliff face, while heading down towards Inanda Dam this morning.
ER24 paramedics arrived on the scene and were shown by his friends to where the man was lying. Paramedics had to watch their footing as the path way was rather tricky and narrowed in places.
Once they got to the patient they assessed him and found that he had suffered a possible broken shoulder, neck and back injuries and had a cut across the front of his head. While he was being stabilised the SAPS Search and Rescue, VEMA HAR and Fire Department were called into help assist with the rescue.
All role players made the rescue a success and was decided that the 15th Squadron would be needed to air lift the patient as it was too dangerous to carry him out. The patient was taken to a waiting ambulance and transported to R K Khans Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
It is believed that the man was walking along the pathway towards his home in Inanda when he lost his balance and fell. He was extremely lucky that he was walking with friends at the time of the incident and that he never fell over down the embankment and over the cliff.
Derrick Banks, ER24
