A young man has suffered serious injuries after falling 25 meters from a boardwalk at Coolum Beach.
The 26-year-old arborist was reportedly working on nearby trees, when he fell and landed on the rocks below, around 9.30am on Wednesday.
“They were working in that area and one of his colleagues reported he stepped out from underneath the boardwalk, appeared a bit dizzy, and went over the edge,” says Sunshine Coast QAS operations supervisor Mark Fisher.
The patient remained conscious throughout his rescue, after suffering serious injuries to his head, suspected spinal injuries and multiple abrasions.
Mr Fisher says it was a challenging operation getting rescue crews down the sheer cliff, racing an incoming tide.
“It was quite a protracted effort getting everybody down to him and then from there getting him safely winched on the chopper.”
“A QPS officer initially went down the cliff face and the Surf Life Saver was at the base of the cliff with the patient, and QFES arrived and helped us gain access to the base of the cliff with the vertical rescue team.”
The Sunshine Coast-based RACQ LifeFlight Rescue medical team raced to the popular lookout by road, while the Bundaberg-based helicopter flew to the scene.
The patient was then secured into a stretcher, before being winched into the helicopter.
He was then flown to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane for further treatment.
