Hiker Spends Seven Hours Upside Down After Getting Stuck While Retrieving Phone

After attempting to reach her phone that had fallen between a set of boulders, a hiker was left in an uncomfortable situation as she became trapped while upside down.

Moss-covered boulders in a forest / Unsplash

While hiking in Hunter Valley, Australia, a 23-year-old woman dropped her phone between two boulders alongside the trail. According to a social media post made by the NSW Ambulance, the boulders were approximately 10 feet deep and created a confined space. Attempting to retrieve her phone, the woman slipped into the crevice head-first.

The young woman was hiking with her friends at the time of the incident but were unable to pull her out due to the depth of the hole. Needing to take action, her friends started hiking toward cell reception.

"With no phone reception and unable to call for help herself, her friends called Triple Zero (000) [the emergency phone number] after unsuccessful attempts to free her - the patient was hanging by her feet upside down for over an hour by this point," the NSW Ambulance wrote.

In a discussion with CNN, rescue paramedic Peter Watts stated, "My initial thought was, how are we going to get her out of here? Because I've never come across this."

Watts explained that part of their ambulance rescue training involves trench, confined space, and vertical rescue, all which contributed to the success of this mission.

Ultimately, the team decided that the best rescue method was to remove surrounding boulders to gain an entry point. From there, the team carefully maneuvered the woman's body out of the hole. At 4:30 p.m., the rescue had been deemed successful and the 23-year-old was out.

Despite being upside down for seven hours, she didn't have any major injuries. However, Watts told CNN that when she was first freed from the hole, she wasn't able to walk for a short time.

"She was tired, and she was quite dizzy. All of her blood was in her head, and she had nothing in her legs, so she couldn't stand, couldn't really walk at that stage," said Watts.

Following the incident, the woman was transported to a nearby hospital for overnight observation.