Critical care NSW paramedics Marty Thomson and Josh Taylor save man’s life in Leura, Blue Mountains

A team of critical care paramedics – who repeatedly put their lives on the line – have revealed what it takes to pull off epic helicopter rescue missions on cliff-faces and in dense bush.

Heroes: Marty Thomson and Joshua Taylor risked their life to save a man after falling from a cliff.

Two critical care paramedics were tasked with scaling a 200m cliff in a nine hour rescue to save a man’s life in The Blue Mountains.

Marty Thomson, 39, and Josh Taylor, 42, both put their lives on the line as critical care paramedics in the NSW Ambulance.

Daily, they are confronted with what they describe as the “best and the worst of humanity”: from dealing with traumatic and gruesome vehicular crashes – to more recently when they were deployed on a task that seemed almost impossible.

A recreational climber in their 20s had fallen 25m from a 200m cliff near Leura.

The injured man was stuck on a small cliff ledge and therefore access was impossible for land services.

The view from above. Picture: NSW Ambulance

A triple-000 call came in which was immediately passed through a “bat phone” at the Bankstown Paramedical Base.

Within 20 minutes, Josh and Marty had arrived on the scene – all while gathering as much intel as they could.

“We sourced information from locals, climbing guides and maps,” Marty said.

The Special Operation Paramedics had already arrived and were taking command from Police who acted as the control point.

While the scene was surveyed, it soon became clear winching down was unviable.

An idea of the scale. Picture: NSW Ambulance

“It was a unique job – we had to abseil down,” Marty said.

Carrying about 45kg each on their back, packed each with a 200m cliff rope and a harness, the pair descended with the help of the NSW Police Rescue Team.

“It was apparent pretty quickly that this was going to be a big job,” Marty said.

It turned out to be a monumental job: spanning nine hours as blistering heat bared down on them.

The men who risked their life to save another – Josh Taylor and Marty Thomson, based in Bankstown. Picture: NSW Ambulance

For hours, Josh and Marty were put through their paces and the stakes increased as daylight was fleeting.

“The pressure of last light fast approaching was one main concern,” Marty said.

The pair managed to abseil down to the patient before the helicopter carefully came in and winched down a hook to extract the patient out.

Joshua prior to being winched out. Picture: supplied

Despite falling 25m, the patient remarkably suffered only a dislocated hip and broken vertebrae – and managed to walk away from hospital.

Marty said the incredible outcome was a direct result of the teamwork between the Ambulance, Police and the aviation crew.

The rescuers being winched out. Picture: NSW Ambulance

“These jobs don’t happen unless we’re all on the same page – we each provided a unique skill set.”

The team are highly trained in dealing with these scenarios, but Josh said nothing could prepare them for what they faced that day.

“It’s a different kind of intensity when a patient is involved.”

Their epic rescue is now being used as a guideline for critical care workers in the future.