Woman, 23, recalls the heart-stopping moment she fell 40-feet off a cliff – and now claims to have a ‘connection’ with the volunteer who saved her life
- Amy, 23, was climbing with her boyfriend in Dorset while visiting from London
- She fell over 40-feet onto jagged rocks when her rope snapped during the climb
- She rescued by the unpaid volunteers in the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
A young woman recalled the heart-stopping moment she fell 40-feet off a cliff while climbing with her boyfriend in Dorset.
Amy, 23, from London, was climbing Anvil Point, two miles down the Dorset coast in mid-July when her rope snapped and caused her to plummet the length of a four-story building onto several jagged rocks.
The young climbers fall was shown on tonight’s episode of BBC2’s Saving Lives at Sea, where she told how she was saved by the coastguard who airlifted her to hospital after placing her on a specially designed spinal stretcher to avoid life-threatening injuries.
Following the accident, she broke her left eye socket, cheek bone, her wrist, one of her toes and ‘sliced open’ both of her knees – but insisted that she has a ‘connection’ with the volunteer coastguard member who saved her life.
Amy, 23, from London, was climbing with her boyfriend when she fell 40-feet off a cliff
The young girl broke her left eye socket, cheek bone, her wrist, one of her toes and ‘sliced open’ both of her knees
She climbing Anvil Point, two miles down the Dorset coast on cliffs which rise 110 feet above sea level
It was a hot day in mid-July with temperatures around 20 degrees when the the local Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) received a call from Amy’s boyfriend to say she had fallen after her rope snapped.
Amy explained: ‘Richard had told me about all the time’s he had solo climbed and so I thought, I’m gonna do it.
‘I quickly climbed up and got to the top and was really excited, I’d gone to lean back and I just remember the rope ping off at anchor point.’
‘I remember twisting and yelling out Richards name and that’s all I remember. ‘
Becky (pictured) was one of the first RNLI members on the scene and reassured Amy through her ordeal
Becky, one of the first RNLI members at the scene, confessed that she knew the accident would be serious the second she received the call.
She said: ‘When it’s a hot sunny day and the water is flat and the pager goes off you don’t really know what to expect.
‘The conditions are prefect – everyone having a lovely time so is often something a bit more challenging, a bit more unexpected’.
Another lifeboat arrived on the scene on the day – after responding to the same call for the climber
Seven minutes after launching they met the cliff and team members Neil and Becky were the first to go ashore
After receiving the news of the fall a lifeboat was dispatched to the the Limestone Cliffs, which rise 110 feet above sea level.
Seven minutes after launching they met the cliff and spot another lifeboat who had been near the cliff and responded to the call.
Team members Neil and Becky are first to climb ashore on ledge two metres above the waters edge where they began to reassure Amy, put her in the recovery position and ensure the safest way of getting her back on land.
Becky was concerned about the large amount of blood surrounding Amy’s head injuries
Becky said: ‘There was a lot of blood around the head area so I was concerned about head injuries.
‘Although she was chatting I was concerned there could be something more going on I couldn’t see.’
Speaking of the incident, Any recalled: ‘I remember waking up at the bottom just remember this woman kneeling down besides me, she was talking to me and I was talking to her so yeah I feel there was a connection there.
‘Because in, what is most likely going to be one of the worst moments of my life, she was the one guiding me through it.’
While waiting for the helicopter more coastguard members joined the team and they lifted the young woman onto a special spinal stretcher to avoid increasing her injuries further.
She was placed on this specialist spinal board by volunteers that gathered to help – to avoid further injuries
Amy was then helicoptered to safety but later admitted she felt she ‘probably could have died’
The team then loaded her onto the helicopter on the specialist spinal board and the young woman confessed that she ‘probably could have died’.
Detailing her injuries, Amy said: ‘I found out the next day I had broken my left eye socket and cheek bone I had chipped one tooth and broke my left wrist, I sliced open both my knees and I had also broken one of my toes.
‘From that height I probably could have died, you can die from far less height .
RNLI member Becky praised the young woman as a ‘superstar’ and insisted she was the ‘best casualty she could be’.
She said: ‘She was a superstar in my eyes, I’ve got a huge amount of respect for Amy even in that situation she was calm she was brave and in that situation was the best casualty she could be.’
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