Briton borne to safety on stretcher made of denim shorts

A BRITISH man who ignored safety warnings and leapt into a natural pool from a 100ft clifftop in the Australian outback suffered multiple injuries, but was rescued by a group of medical students.

Josh Jones, 25, from Yorkshire, had reportedly drunk “about 10 beers” when he decided to jump from a ledge at Jim Jim Falls, a remote and spectacular waterfall in the Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory.

Mr Jones, who lives in Darwin, told ABC News: “I saw the ledge and thought, hey, that’s possible to jump off.” He added: “I tried to pencil, it took the wind out of me, came up and the left leg didn’t feel too good. I swam over to the edge, got a bit of air and … the left foot was out far to the left. I thought, ‘yeah, that’s got to be broken’.”

Mr Jones was rescued by a GP who happened to be visiting the falls along with three medical students.

The four treated him and built a stretcher from a pair of denim shorts to help carry him to safety.

Daniel Fitzgerald, who assisted Mr Jones, said about eight people helped to carry the Briton out. “You’ve got to go over these huge big boulders and there’s no path there whatsoever,” he told ABC News. “He’s lucky to survive … I thought he would hit the bottom of the cliff, and not the water.”

Following the incident on Saturday afternoon, Mr Jones was taken to a nearby medical clinic and airlifted to the Royal Darwin Hospital early yesterday.

Staff said he had broken his left leg in two places and dislocated his knee, as well as receiving facial injuries.

“[I want to thank] all the guys who came to help me, four doctors and everything … strapped me up, pulled [my leg] straight and we all got back to the camp,” Mr Jones said. “They made up a home-made sling, a stretcher … and dragged me all the way back for hours.”

‘He’s lucky to survive … I thought he would hit the bottom of the cliff, and not the water’