Hiker’s very relaxed description of daring rescue after 22-hour ordeal stuck on cliff-face in Royal National Park
A bushwalker who was ‘too stubborn’ to turn back after making a wrong turn before being battered by waves and then forced to cling to a remote rock edge for almost 24 hours has given an informal one-word description of his daring rescue mission.
Daniel Hart, 27, was thrown into the ocean about 4pm on Saturday after scrambling over rocks for three hours following a wrong turn on the Coast Track in the Royal National Park, 50 kilometers south of Sydney.
He was tossed by the rough waves before washing up on a rocky ledge about 60 feet below the cliff face of Eagle Rock – about four miles through dense brush from the nearest road.
Mr Hart spent a cold night ‘curled up in a ball’ on the cliff before another hiker heard his cries for help in the morning and alerted authorities.
Shortly after lunchtime on Sunday, a crew of NSW Ambulance paramedics abseiled down the jagged cliff face to get Mr Hart to a spot where he could be safely lifted to a helicopter.
But when asked about his “remarkable” rescue, Mr. Heart the calm Australian tranquility.
“Yes… it was a grouse,” he told 9News, before thanking his rescuers.
Daniel Hart, 27, was thrown into the ocean after scrambling over rocks for three hours following a wrong turn on the Coast Track in the Royal National Park
Shortly after lunch on Sunday, a crew of NSW Ambulance paramedics abseiled down the jagged rock face to help get Mr Hart to a spot where he could be safely lifted to a helicopter.
Incredibly, Mr Hart suffered only a few scratches on his knees and was just treated for mild hypothermia.
Inspector Jason Rutherford of NSW AMbulance said it was a ‘difficult extraction’.
“He couldn’t be winched straight up the cliff, so they set up a lateral safety system to move him sideways to a place where he could be safely winched up by the helicopter,” Mr Rutherford told Nine News.
When asked what was going through his mind during his long night on the cliff, Mr Hart said: ‘You’re an idiot, why are you so stubborn?’
“It could have been a lot worse,” he added.
Mr. Hart was unharmed and surprisingly nonchalant about his ordeal and dramatic rescue
Mr Hart was 50 days into a planned 4,500km journey across the length of mainland Australia, from the southernmost point of Wilson’s Promontory, south-east of Melbourne to Cape York in Far North Queensland.
He is undertaking this to raise awareness for a universal basic income and advocates that everyone should receive $500 per week unconditionally to meet their basic needs.
He later shared a selfie smiling next to one of his rescuers on the cliff face before being pulled to safety.
“Posting this from Sutherland Hospital,” Mr Hart captioned the photo.
‘Yesterday was a bit of a setback; I lost all my stuff, spent the night in a cave on a cliff and had to be airlifted out today.”
The post was flooded with concern for his well-being, but people also saw the lighter side, with one joking that he had left his followers on a ‘cliffhanger’.
Another asked: “The real question is, is he going back to where he was rescued since he technically didn’t walk to the hospital?”