Teenager falls 15m off cliff at Hunter River Reserve in NSW

A teenager is in hospital after he fell more than 15m off a cliff and into a tree at a popular tourist location in NSW.

A teenage boy has fallen more than 15m of a cliff and into a tree in the Hunter Region of NSW on Tuesday afternoon.

Paramedics were called to the Hunter River Reserve at Greta shortly before 4pm on Tuesday following reports a person had fallen off a cliff and was now “tangled in a tree” with a broken leg.

Multiple land and air rescue crews responded to the incident, including a helicopter with a doctor aboard, critical care, rescue and on-road paramedics.

NSW Ambulance Inspector Joel De Zuna said the teen was in a precarious position a number of metres from the bottom of the cliff.

“What was already a difficult and complex vertical rescue became even more difficult as we lost the daylight and it started to rain,” he said.

Crews worked together to extract the boy in the dark. Picture: Supplied.

Three hours after the teen’s initial fall, paramedics rescued him using ropes and winched him to safety.

He was rushed to the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle where he remains in a stable condition.

Both land and air rescue crews responded to the fall. Picture: Supplied

Mr De Zuna said the teen’s rescue was the result of an “amazing” multi-agency response.

“I can’t praise highly enough the way our ambulance rescue paramedics and critical care team put their rescue training into practice in getting down to this patient, securing and stabilising him and taking him up the cliff to safety,” he said.

Originally published as Teenager falls 15m off cliff at Hunter River Reserve in NSW