Helicopter needed to rescue Avalon woman, 55, who hit her head at West Head bunker
Just three days after a woman died in a fall at an isolated and abandoned military bunker, another woman suffered serious head injuries in a fall at a Sydney national park.
Manly
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A woman suffered a serious head injury after falling at an abandoned military bunker in a Sydney national park.
The woman, 55, had to be flown to hospital by helicopter after striking her head inside a former World War II gun emplacement in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.
This incident on the West Head Army Track, near the popular West Head Lookout, on Saturday afternoon came just three days after a young woman had a deadly fall at an ex-military bunker on North Head.
Police are investigating how university student Annika Ferry, 21, suffered a fatal head injury when she fell at an abandoned searchlight emplacement on Blue Fish Point while watching the sunrise last Wednesday.
Investigators are looking into whether Ms Ferry, from Balgowlah Heights, struck her head when she fell or a piece of the structure may have struck her in the head before she fell.
At 1.40pm on Saturday, a woman from Avalon was on a bush walk with family members when she stopped to take a photograph of the view from an emplacement close to the shoreline, which was once part of the Australian Army’s West Head artillery battery.
Northern Beaches Police said the woman fell off a raised concrete step and landed on the gravelled floor of the bunker and hit her head on a metal gun mount that used to support a 4.7 inch gun designed to fire at enemy shipping entering Broken Bay.
She received a large laceration close to her temple and complained of neck soreness.
“The woman’s sister contacted emergency services and a large emergency service response followed, including police, ambulance, Rural Fire Service personnel and the Toll Ambulance Rescue helicopter who transported the woman to hospital,” a police spokeswoman said.
Ambulance NSW said the woman was winched on to the helicopter for the trip to Royal North Shore Hospital because emergency services would have had to carry her up 950 steps to an ambulance waiting on West Head Rd.
Police said the woman underwent a CAT scan at the hospital.
The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service said that, in recent years, it had taken steps to reduce the risk to visitors at the West Head installations.
“This includes installation of balustrade and gates to prevent access or reduce fall risk and repair works to concrete,” a spokesman said.
“People are reminded that these sites by their nature are located in steep, rugged areas that can be challenging to reach and all care must be taken when visiting these areas.”