A woman was critically injured when she plunged more that 15m down a mountain at a resort in Potchefstroom on Saturday, paramedics said.
ER24 spokesperson Werner Vermaak said the woman was climbing up the Vredefort Chimney at the Thabelo Thabong Mountain Resort with a group of other climbers at 9.30am when she fell.
The woman, said to be from Midrand in Gauteng, apparently slipped and fell more that 15m.
”She landed head first against a branch. Had she not collided with the branch on the way down, she would have fallen a further 10m,” said Vermaak.
Paramedics hiked for 45 minutes to reach the woman.
”She lay face down with her head between rocks and tree branches and was in excruciating pain. She sustained multiple facial lacerations and two broken ankles.”
Due to the cold weather and injuries, she also sustained slight hypothermia.
Rescuers had to lower her a further 15m with ropes and cables to a helicopter.
She was hoisted into the helicopter from the mountain at around 2.30pm and flown to the Unitas Hospital in Pretoria for treatment. She was said to be in a stable condition.
ER24 worked with officials from the Parys Fire department, Klerksdorp Mountain Rescue and the Mountain Rescue Club of South Africa. – Sapa