Woman stuck upside-down between 2 boulders trying to retrieve her phone freed after 7 hours

LONDON -- A woman in Australia got herself into a tight predicament when she dropped her phone and ended up getting stuck upside-down in between two boulders for seven hours while trying to retrieve it.

The woman got herself into a “spot of bother,” according to a statement from New South Wales Ambulance released on Monday, when she was hiking in the Hunter Valley north of Sydney and dropped her phone which fell into a 10-foot crevice between two boulders when she went in head-first trying to recover it when she got stuck and couldn’t move.

“With no phone reception and unable to call for help herself, her friends called Triple Zero (000) after unsuccessful attempts to free her – the patient was hanging by her feet upside down for over an hour by this point,” authorities said. “NSW Ambulance Specialist Rescue Paramedic Peter Watts worked with a multidisciplinary team to remove several heavy boulders to create a safe access point. With care, a hardwood frame was built to ensure stability while rescuers worked.”

Responders worked for several hours until they were able to access the unnamed woman’s feet, officials said.

“With both feet now accessible, the team faced the challenge of navigating the patient out through a tight “S” bend over the course of an hour. It took teamwork and a specialised Tirfor winch to move a massive 500kg boulder,” NSW Ambulance said.

Finally, after seven hours of being stuck while emergency crews worked to free her, the woman was freed from between the boulders and suffered only minor scratches and bruises during the entire ordeal -- though she was, regretfully, unable to retrieve her phone.

“In my 10 years as a rescue paramedic I had never encountered a job quite like this, it was challenging but incredibly rewarding,” Peter Watts said. “Every agency had a role, and we all worked incredibly well together to achieve a good outcome for the patient.”