It took the combined efforts of multiple emergency service units to rescue a man aged in his 20s who fell about 20m from the boardwalk onto rocks below at Coolum Esplanade last week.
QAS Sunshine Coast Operations Supervisor Mark Fisher described the event as “quite a complex rescue“.
“The patient had fallen on a sheer area of cliff,“ he said.
“He stepped out from underneath the boardwalk, appeared a bit dizzy and went over the edge.
“We then had a patient at the base of a cliff with an incoming tide at about 9.35pm. That tide was incoming until about 10.35pm.
“We had a QPS officer initially, went down cliff face, a Surf Lifesaver was at the base of the cliff with the patient and QFPS arrived and helped us gain access to the base of the cliff with their vertical rescue team. They were winched down to the patient, then we had rescue helicopter come down to this area.
“The patient had sustained serious injuries including a head injury, a suspected spinal injuries and multiple abrasions. He did remain conscious throughout.
“It was quite a protracted effort getting everybody down to him then getting him safely winched to the chopper and then transported to Princess Alexandra Hospital.“
