A man who fell from a cliff has hailed a family who rescued him, after his “embarrassing and stupid” attempt to take a perilous selfie.
Brisbane resident Zackoriah Holland-DeJoodt praised a man and his two children – volunteer lifesavers – for helping him after he plummeted up to 10m at Paradise Caves within the Noosa National Park.
The 40-year-old, who suffered a head injury and fractured arm and wrist, documented his ordeal to Sunshine Coast News.
“The first red flag I shouldn’t have ignored is the pathway down (to the caves) isn’t official,” he said.
“I climbed over a fence and walked down the hillside and then I got to the caves area and I thought ‘wow, it’s so beautiful, I’d love to go in that cave’.”
Mr Holland-DeJoodt was determined to take a photo of himself there.
“It’s the embarrassing thing of wanting to take a selfie, stupidly,” he said.
“It looked quite difficult to get down and it was quite wet from rain, but I could see some dry bits, so I went along.
“I hopped over to a section that I presumed to be dry but it wasn’t, and I slipped off the edge of the cliff and fell to the rocks below.”
Warning: graphic image below
He estimated he plunged 5-10m, a potentially fatal distance.
“I was very lucky,” he said.
But he sustained serious injuries.
“I had a bad head injury, with lots of bleeding, and my arm and wrist were in the shape of an ‘S’. It was horrible,” he said.
“I was in the cave and my phone was damaged and I thought ‘what am I going to do?’
“I was quite numb but then the pain really set in and I was starting to panic.”
He was alone for about 20 minutes before he was noticed by a backpacker from Scotland.
“I waved to him and he just waved back, but then I saw his expression change when he realised that I was covered in blood,” he said.
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The unidentified backpacker called emergency services, and the first ones to respond were Sunshine Beach Surf Life Saving club members Matthew Heffernan and twins Zach and Pia, 13.
Mr Heffernan and Zach navigated their way down the drop to meet him.
They comforted him and then helped him traverse rock pools to get to the base of the steep slope, where rescue services lowered equipment to pull him up.
Mr Holland-DeJoodt commended the duo.
“I really want to thank them,” he said.
“The dad was a leader and the boy was very confident and very positive.”
“I’m a very nervous person but the father was stoic. He said, ‘come on, we’ve got to get it together’.
“He really got me through it because I was thinking ‘how am I going to get through those rock pools?’.
“And Zach is so young, but he didn’t look worried, which really calmed me down.
“He was excellent, and so upbeat, and he really put me at ease.
“I was really messed up and all seized up and they guided me through the rock pools, through the least slippery route.
“It took about 30 minutes to get from where I was to the spot where a professional (rescue) abseiler hoisted me up the cliff.”
He was winched to the top, in the rain, carried to an ambulance and transported to Sunshine Coast University Hospital for treatment.
He acknowledged the efforts of the backpacker, the family of lifesavers and emergency services personnel.
“I was blown away by the response,” he said.
“It was so stupid of me but everyone was so kind and understanding and the help was extraordinary. I can’t believe I managed to get out of there. I just want to say a big thank you to everyone.
“I’m so sorry for the trouble I caused and I’m grateful that no one else got hurt while trying to rescue me.
Mr Holland-DeJoodt warned others to stay on designated tracks and to avoid taking selfies in potentially dangerous situations.
“It was all for a bloody photo. It was such a stupid thing to do,” he said.
“I want to warn people: don’t do what I did. If you’ve got to climb over a fence, don’t bother. If a path is not official, there’s a reason for it.
“Don’t take risks for photos. There’s a culture of people taking stupid selfies but it’s just not worth it.
“I was so lucky. If I’d have landed on my neck, it would have been terrible.”
Meanwhile, Mr Heffernan recounted the harrowing situation.
He was part of a roving patrol on the northern end of Sunshine Beach, with his daughter and fellow lifesaver Ashlee Cameron.
“There was a surfer in distress there, so my daughter and Ashlee swum out to the surfer and, while that I was happening, we got a call on Surfcom to say someone was in distress at Paradise Cave,” he said.
“A wave runner (jet ski) went to the surfer and they brought him in.
“My son then arrived and we went to Paradise Caves. We had to climb down a cliff face to Zackoriah.
“We were really concerned when we first got there that it was quite a severe incident.
“We were shocked to see him sitting up … he had a bad fracture and a head gash.
“I couldn’t believe he was conscious, and his communication was good.
“Those vital signs were excellent. It was just the pain he was experiencing in his wrist and on his head.
“We stayed with him for a couple of hours, while we got a tech (rescue) crew to the scene.
“He was very brave to be able to get through that (pain) and then to walk through the sharp rocks (to the winch).”
Mr Heffernan said he and his son had to negotiate treacherous terrain to get to Mr Holland-DeJoodt.
“To go over to the point and then down the cliff face was rather difficult and really rocky,” he said, before expressing his pride in Zach.
“My son was amazing, supporting me and Zackoriah through the crisis.”
Pia stayed atop the cliff face and relayed messages from the scene to emergency services.
Mr Heffernan said his children managed the situation with composure.
“It’s a big ordeal for 13-year-old lifesaving kids,” he said.
“You never want them to be in those situations but they get all the training and can deliver when it is required.
“It was very pleasing to see, as a dad and as a senior active member of a lifesaving club.”
He said his children were active though their club’s surf sports nipper program. Zach made the final of the under-14 Ironman event at the national surf lifesaving championships at Maroochydore last week.
Mr Heffernan applauded lifeguards “Tim and Dean”, who arrived and applied adrenaline and painkillers, as paramedics were unable to access the site.
“They were so calm with us and the patient,” he said.
He also thanked Ashlee and Doug Gould.
The latter was on a jet ski in the surf near the caves, relaying information to Surfcom in case a helicopter was necessary.
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