Emergency services are urging people to stick to the designated areas after a 37-year-old man plunged 20 metres from a cliff at Jamberoo Lookout.
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NSW Ambulance inspector Paul Delamont said the Illawarra man was “very, very fortunate” to have escaped serious injury or death given the height that he fell from.
He was knocked unconscious for a short time and suffered head and knee injuries, superficial cuts and exposure from the hours-long ordeal.
It is believed the man’s wife had gone looking for him on Tuesday afternoon after she noticed him missing.
She alerted authorities about 3.30pm when she located him on a landing 20 metres below the lookout.
After initial attempts to winch him to safety proved unsuccessful, SES crews were forced to hike down steep and dangerous terrain to carry him out.
He was finally rescued about 6.15pm, nearly three hours after his wife raised the alarm.
The man was treated at the scene, before being taken to Wollongong Hospital by ambulance in a stable condition.
Insp Delamont said the rescue operation was challenging due to access issues, and urged the public to take care near cliffs.
“It’s a remote area to access by car, and to access the small cliff rescuers had to clamber down over slippery rocks and through thick undergrowth,” he said.
“This chap has been very, very fortunate.
“Fences and barriers on cliff lines are there for a very good reason.
“If you venture outside of those in slippery conditions, there’s a high chance you’ll slip and fall.
“Please stay inside the fence lines at all times, especially if it’s slippery.”
A NSW Ambulance spokesman said it was the second incident involving an apparent cliff fall in the space of just 10 minutes.
A man drowned after an incident at a beach in the Royal National Park on Tuesday afternoon.
Emergency services have conflicting reports as to whether the man died after falling from a cliff, or was washed off a rock ledge.
NSW Ambulance said six ambulance crews and a helicopter responded to the emergency after a caller indicated their friend had fallen off a cliff and into the water at Little Marley Beach at 3.40pm.
Madeline Crittenden
Madeline Crittenden is a journalist for Fairfax Media at the South Coast Register.
Madeline Crittenden is a journalist for Fairfax Media at the South Coast Register.
