Dramatic moment pensioner, 69, is rescued after cowering for 17 HOURS in a Somerset cave
RNLI save woman, known only as Sally, after cliff-plunge leaves her with head injury
THIS is the dramatic moment a pensioner is rescued after spending 17 hours cowering in a cave on the side of a cliff face.
The 69-year-old, named only as Sally, was left stranded after plunging off a coastal path above and banging her head on the rocks below.
She had failed to return home from a walk on Saturday afternoon and her worried family called in the emergency services.
Two lifeboats were scrambled on Sunday morning and she was found perched on a rock waving desperately for help and showing the early signs of hypothermia.
After being hauled aboard shortly after 9.30am she told rescuers : “Thank you very much. I’m very cold.”
It is thought that her life was saved because the thick parka coat she was wearing prevented hypothermia from setting in.
The woman was raced back to the RNLI base in Minehead, Somerset, five miles away where she was reunited with her husband and son.
She had been walking along the treacherous path at Hurlstone Point – an area amblers are told to avoid in bad weather.
The pensioner lost her footing and slipped 10 feet before banging her head and becoming stuck at the base of the cliff.
As night set in she realised her best chance of survival was to shelter in a cave.
A major overnight search was launched involving local coastguards, Exmoor Search and Rescue, police and a helicopter when her family raised the alarm on Saturday.
But she was ultimately found shivering in the cold by lifeboat crews on Sunday morning and "extracted" from the cave.
RNLI helmsman Andrew Escort said: “She was getting towards hypothermia, and I’m very surprised she hadn’t succumbed to it.
“I think it’s because she had a thick parka on with a hood – that’s what saved her.”
His colleague Phil Sanderson added: “She seemed to have bumped her head after falling from the rugged coastal path when it was starting to get dark.
“She ended up in a cave that goes from one side of the cliff to the other.
“When we found her, she was very, very cold and a bit confused.
“She seemed really tired. It would certainly have been difficult for her to sleep, but luckily for her the seas were quite still last night and the temperatures were fairly mild.”
The woman was treated by paramedics but was miraculously uninjured apart from a graze on her head.
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