An Australian woman learned a valuable lesson the hard way this month — when you lose your phone in a tricky spot, don’t risk your life trying to save it.
While taking photos on Oct. 12 in Hunter Valley, Australia, north of Sydney, Matilda Campbell dropped her cellphone into a tight crevice between two massive boulders. As she was trying to retrieve her phone, rescuers said Campbell slipped into the three-metre-deep gap and became stuck upside down.
On social media, the New South Wales Ambulance service joked Campbell found herself “between a rock and a hard place.”
Campbell’s friends, with whom she’d been hiking, tried to free her. After one hour of effort, Campbell was still stuck, so the group called for help.
There was limited cellphone service in the region, so Campbell’s friends had to search for an area to phone for emergency assistance.
Officials shared several dramatic photos from the rescue mission, including one of Campbell stuck deep in the crevice, with only her bare feet visible from above.
A multidisciplinary team of medical and emergency personnel worked to remove “several heavy boulders to create a safe access point,” NSW Ambulance wrote.
The NWS Ambulance service said Matilda Campbell found herself in an ‘unlikely predicament’ when she slipped into the tight boulder crevice.
Instagram @NSWAmbulance
When her feet were accessible, the team said they had to pull Campbell up through a tight ‘S’ bend between the rocks. The manoeuvre took over an hour.
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After seven hours trapped upside down, Campbell was pulled to safety. She suffered only minor scratches and bruises, rescuers said.
A Tirfor winch, a form of manual rig for lifting and pulling, was used to move a 500-kilogram boulder so that Campbell could be freed. A hardwood frame was also constructed around the rocks to ensure stability and prevent cracking.
Matilda Campbell was stuck upside down between the two massive boulders for seven hours.
Instagram @NSWAmbulance
Ultimately, Campbell was not able to reach her phone.
Emergency personnel told the Australian Broadcast Corporation that Campbell was “calm” and “collected” during the mission.
She identified herself on social media on Monday when she shared a news story about the incident. Speaking of the photos captured by rescuers, she wrote, “Not my feet on display like that.”
In a separate post, the 23-year-old thanked her friends and the emergency responders “who worked so hard to get me out.” She said they likely saved her life.
Campbell called herself “the most accidental prone person ever.”
“No more rock exploration for me for a while!” Campbell joked.
Peter Watts, a specialist rescue paramedic, said he’d “never encountered a job quite like this” throughout his 10 years of experience. He said the mission was “challenging but incredibly rewarding.”
“Every agency had a role, and we all worked incredibly well together to achieve a good outcome for the patient,” Watts said.
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