11.45am: Police say the teenager who died after he fell from a tree branch into a swimming hole at Kellys Falls, near Helensburgh, on Wednesday was pulled from the water by his friends.
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Investigators say the boy was at the swimming hole with several friends when he climbed about 15 metres up a tree and began swinging on a branch.
The branch snapped and the boy fell to the water, striking his head on a submerged rock.
His friends dragged him from the water and emergency services were contacted.
The 16-year-old was airlifted to Royal North Shore Hospital in a critical condition, where he later died.
Wollongong police are investigating the incident.
9.30am: The teenager who was critically injured after he fell and hit his head at Kellys Falls, near Helensburgh, on Wednesday has died in hospital.
Emergency services were called to the location about 1.30pm after the alarm was raised that a 16-year-old boy had fallen more than 10 metres.
The teenager was treated for a serious head injury, before being winched to a helicopter and flown to Royal North Shore Hospital in a critical condition.
He died in hospital on Wednesday night.
NSW Ambulance Illawarra duty operations manager Inspector Norm Rees said emergency services were told the teenager had climbed a tree to jump into a rock pool below when the accident happened.
“The branch has broken and he has fallen and hit his head,” Inspector Rees told the Mercury on Wednesday afternoon.
One of the paramedics responding to the incident broke his left ankle as he made his way along the walking track to the scene.
The paramedic also received treatment and was taken to the same winching spot, where he was lifted into a helicopter.
He was flown to St George Hospital for further treatment.