Waterfall victim fighting for life after Mareeba tragedy
A young man is clinging to life in Cairns Hospital with head and leg injuries after plunging 30m from the top of Emerald Creek Falls.
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UPDATE MONDAY: A young man is clinging to life in Cairns Hospital after plummeting 30m from the top of Emerald Creek Falls.
A Cairns Hospital spokesman said the 24-year-old was back in a critical condition after his situation was listed as serious on Sunday.
He was extracted from the bottom of the falls and flown by the Rescue 510 chopper to hospital in a critical condition on Saturday afternoon.
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It’s understood the man is being treated for head and leg injuries.
Visitors to the falls recently reported slippery rocks at the top of the popular Atherton Tableland attraction just outside Mareeba, however circumstances leading to the man’s fall remain unclear.
The man’s fall is not the first serious injury to come from an accident at Emerald Creek.
In 2018 a 17-year-old girl was flown to Townsville Hospital after falling 50m, also in 2018 a 19-year-old Mareeba woman fell 15m and sustained head and spinal injuries.
In 2014 a 23-year-old bushwalker was winched out by helicopter when she slipped and fell 10m into a rock pool.
UPDATE SUNDAY: A patient update has been provided by the Cairns Hospital on the condition of a man critically injured in a horrific waterfall accident on Saturday afternoon.
Identified as a 24-year-old, the man was flown from Emerald Creek Falls, 14km southeast of Mareeba yesterday afternoon via rescue helicopter after falling 30m from the top of the falls.
His condition has been updated as serious after he sustained head and leg injuries in the fall at the popular swimming spot on the Atherton Tablelands.
#Mareeba - Paramedics, including the rescue helicopter are on scene with a patient in a critical condition after reportedly falling at Emerald Creek Falls at 3pm.
— Queensland Ambulance (@QldAmbulance) March 6, 2021
UPDATE 5.30PM: A man has been flown to hospital in a critical condition after falling 30 metres from an Atherton-Tablelands waterfall.
Paramedics attended the scene at Emerald Creek Falls on Saturday afternoon from 3pm where the man sustained a head and leg injury.
A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said he had been taken to Cairns Hospital for treatment.
EARLIER: Emergency crews have been called to an Atherton Tablelands swimming hole after receiving reports a swimmer had fallen from the top of a waterfall.
At about 3pm paramedics rushed to Emerald Creek Falls to treat a man who reportedly fell.
It’s understood the man is unconscious in a critical condition and sustained a head and leg injury.
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A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said the Rescue 510 chopper was hovering over the area while paramedics were proceeding to the site of the fall on foot.
Originally published as Waterfall victim fighting for life after Mareeba tragedy
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