A 16-year-old who died after falling from a tree at a Helensburgh swimming hole has been remembered a “brave boy”.
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Amir Ammari suffered critical injuries when he fell more than 10 metres at Kellys Falls, hitting his head, shortly before 1.30pm Wednesday.
He was airlifted to hospital but succumbed to his injuries about 8pm.
His fall was witnessed by three friends who pulled him from the water and tried in vain to save him as paramedics made their way to the remote waterhole.
On Thursday Amir’s fellow students at Robert Townson High School, in Raby, stood hand-in-hand in his memory. Students left bouquets at a makeshift memorial set up on school grounds.
Amir’s brother, Firas Ammari, described his younger sibling as “a lovely young boy with a lot of energy and a lot of goals in life”.
“He was always a brave young boy, and it's surreal that he's now gone,” Mr Ammari told the Mercury.
“All my family and I can say is, don't take risks, it's not worth it for five minutes of fun.
“Now we have to live without my Amir, who was taken from us at such a young age.
“Words cannot express how we feel, rest in peace Amir. We love you.”
Mr Ammari said speculation that that the boys were competing to climb highest was incorrect.
“[Amir] was just being his brave self and climbed the tree,” he said.
“His friends that saw it happen aren’t coping well, as you can imagine.
Detective Insepctor Brad Ainsworth, Wollongong Crime Manager, said Amir had climbed 10-15 metres above the swimming hole when the branch beneath him broke, causing him to fall into water and onto rocks.
“It’s tragic,” Det Insp Ainsworth said. “He had his three mates watching on and [they] witnessed everything. They pulled him from the water – you can only describe it as horrific really.”
One of the paramedics who came to Amir’s aid broke his ankle while crossing a ravine, requiring a second rescue chopper.
“It’s not too often you result in two airlifts from a rescue situation,” Det Insp Ainsworth said. “It was really hard terrain to access.”
Paramedics were called at 1.30pm. NSW Ambulance says the first ground party paramedics reached their patient at 1.57pm.
The teen was winched to a helicopter and flown to Royal North Shore Hospital, in a critical condition.
Warren Parkes, principal at Robert Townson High School, said the school community was deeply saddened by the death of one of its students.
Counselling would remain available to staff and students, he said.
“They’re coping, but they’re finding it difficult."