Two Newcastle teenagers who attempted a daring cliff face rescue to save an injured tourist became stuck themselves, and all three had to be rescued late last night.
Tom Walker and James Hodgett, both 17, were swimming near Bogey Hole yesterday evening when they heard the cries of a 22-year-old Dutch tourist stuck on the cliff face.
The man had slipped in the fading light, breaking his ankle in a fall and becoming stuck 20 metres from the bottom of a 50-metre cliff.
"I was just having a swim around near jump rock and 'old mate' was up on the side of the cliff waving us down. We climbed up and he had a broken ankle," Tom Walker told Nine News.
They climbed up to the tourist but became trapped as darkness fell.
The two boys used a mobile phone to call for help and waited with the injured man.
Two helicopters were unable to reach the three trapped men, so rescue workers had to abseil down the cliff through dense saltbush.
A Highway Patrol officer reportedly sat with the men for five hours before they were hauled to safety by winches attached to police vehicles.
The injured tourist was put in an ambulance last night and is now recovering in John Hunter Hospital.
Detective Chief Insp Humprey praised the efforts of the two boys.
"If they had not noticed him and made the effort to climb to him and call for help, he could well have been there overnight and his condition would have worsened," he told the Daily Telegraph.
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