A woman became stuck upside down between a pair of boulders for seven hours after falling into a crevice while attempting to retrieve her dropped phone.
Images released by New South Wales Ambulance depict the woman’s feet protruding between the rocks as rescuers arrived.
“In my 10 years as a rescue paramedic I had never encountered a job quite like this, it was challenging but incredibly rewarding,” the agency quoted first responder Peter Watts as saying.
NSW Ambulance stated the woman became trapped in the Hunter Valley “after slipping into a 3-meter [9-foot] crevice, wedged between two boulders while trying to retrieve her phone.”
Authorities were called to the scene after the woman’s companions dialed an emergency telephone number following several unsuccessful attempts to rescue her themselves.
Crews that arrived successfully freed the woman through a narrow “S” bend over the course of an hour, moving an 1,100-pound boulder in the process, according to NSW Ambulance.
“The patient was safely freed seven hours after her ordeal began with only minor scratches and bruises,” NSW Ambulance stated.
Watts stated “we all worked incredibly well together to achieve a good outcome for the patient.”
However, the phone was not recovered.