Kayaker’s dramatic cliff-fall rescue
Holidaymaker paddles to help woman badly hurt on Waiheke
A holidaymaker who raced to help a badly injured woman after she plunged 30m down a cliff says she comforted the bleeding woman, letting her rest on her body and reassuring her she would survive.
Auckland woman Janelle Muir is still reeling after coming to the aid of the young woman in her 20s who fell down a Waiheke Island cliff face on Thursday afternoon.
Muir and her family had been having lunch on their 35ft launch off Matiatia Bay, when her sister-in-law heard someone screaming for help about 1.45pm.
“We stopped the boat and started to the cliff and we spotted a girl there. We didn’t know what to do so we put the anchor down and I jumped in the kayak and started paddling to shore,” she said.
“There was no way to access her except in the kayak.”
Muir started to administer first aid to the stricken woman after realising she would need more serious help.
“I stopped all of the bleeding and wrapped everything up. There was a lot of blood and she was not looking good.
“I didn’t know the full extent of her injuries, but she couldn’t walk so she may have broken her ankle.
“I initially screamed from the shore to the boat but I don’t know if they heard me.
“So I jumped back in the kayak,
I stopped all of the bleeding and wrapped everything up. There was a lot of blood and she was not looking good.
Janelle Muir
rowed my little heart out to the boat, and told everyone we’re going to need major help.
“We were close enough that I could kayak to the cave in five minutes and for me to get to her it took me two minutes.”
Family members on board the launch issued a mayday on their coastguard radio system.
Coastguard transferred the call to the water police, who were then able to activate a rescue.
Muir then returned to the shore in the kayak and lay with the victim for an hour until police and emergency services arrived.
“I pulled the kayak up on to the rocks, elevated her legs to stop the bleeding, and lay down for her to rest on me.
“She said to me, ‘I thought I was going to die’.
“I told her, ‘You’re allowed to be scared, you’re allowed to cry, what happened is so traumatic. But don’t worry, you’re going to be okay, we’re here to help’.”
Muir said police initially came around to the cave, thinking they could reach the pair that way.
“It was closed off so they had to come back around and go through the rocks.”
However, because the tide was going out, the police rescue attempt proved challenging.
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter tried to hoist the victim on to the helicopter but abandoned the plan and the police boat took her ashore instead.
She was then airlifted to Auckland City Hospital from the beach.
“I was so thankful we had a kayak or we wouldn’t have been able to help,” Muir said.
The woman, a young scientist, was on an internship on Waiheke Island and exploring the area on her own.
She had walked down the grass verge, gone into the cave, looked around, and walked back up, she told her rescuer.
“She told me she thought the ground wasn’t stable, tried to turn, and as she turned, the ground under her gave way,” Muir said.
“All the rocks came loose and she held on for dear life but she couldn’t.”
Muir said the woman landed on a big arch of rocks and let herself slide down to the bay.
“She said she had been there screaming for help for a while.
“She had lost her phone in the fall so it is still up on the cliff somewhere.”
The victim was flown to Auckland City Hospital in a moderate condition and yesterday remained in a stable condition.
After the event was over, Muir and her family got back on the boat and headed home.
“The day was kind of done.” Muir had never seen so much blood or so many open wounds in her life.
The whole experience was traumatic and at the same time it was awesome to be able to save someone’s life, she said.
“I was in shock because I can’t believe it happened. It almost doesn’t seem real.”