An Austrian woman has narrowly avoided death after slipping from a steep ledge while she was climbing a popular tourist spot.
The 31-year-old woman fell six metres from a rock at Bushrangers Bay near the Mornington Peninsula, south of Melbourne, about 1.15pm on Saturday.
Emergency services rushed to the scene where they are believed to have found her choking on water while she was unconscious.
Crews moved her to higher ground on a stretcher to avoid the tide coming in.
The young woman was winched by Ambulance Victoria’s HEMS and airlifted to The Alfred hospital in Melbourne with non-life threatening injuries.
‘She was missing her teeth, so we believe she may have had a head injury as well,’ paramedic Jo Wilton told 9News.
‘On further examination, it looks like a hip injury, a wrist injury (as well).’
Ms Wilton said the tourist is believed to have climbed the roughly 12m-tall Elephant Rock before she fell.
An Austrian tourist was found unconscious and choking on water at Bushrangers Bay, in Victoria, on Saturday after she fell from a rock
One of the rescue workers who helped recover the 25-year-old said she was missing teeth and had likely suffered a head injury after falling six metres
‘There’s no actual tracks to get up to it, and on the way down, she has fallen, where there might have been some loose rocks,’ she said.
‘We walked across the rough terrain to reach her and rescuers had to carry their equipment along the beach and so it’s very dangerous for our crews as well.’
The Austrian woman is one of several holidaymakers who have needed rescuing in Victoria during the week.
A woman and her stepson had gone paddleboarding from Portarlington caravan park jetty, west of Geelong, at about 3pm on Christmas Day when conditions quickly deteriorated, and they drifted into the bay.
Rescue crews sprang into action after another family member raised the alarm when the pair failed to return after 5pm.
Local police, aerial units, lifesavers and a coastguard team scoured the waters before a rescue helicopter spotted the pair lying on their paddleboards and waving for help.
They were not wearing lifejackets and had been swept more than 10km before being pulled from the water at Wyndham Harbour.
The family expressed their thanks and commended the efforts of those involved in their rescue.
Earlier this week, emergency services rescued a woman and her stepson who had gone paddleboarding from Portarlington caravan park jetty and drifted into the bay
A rescue helicopter spotted the pair lying on their paddleboards and waving for help
‘We are so grateful for the outcome but still trying to come to terms with how quickly a beautiful, carefree afternoon turned into an almost-tragedy,’ they said in a statement.
‘We are exhausted, very shaken and feel so lucky we were able to stay together.’
In another incident, a mother and her two teenage daughters were winched to safety by a rescue helicopter after encountering difficulty while kayaking.
They were trying to retrieve a kayak adrift near the Corinella jetty, southeast of Melbourne, when the current and strong winds swept them from shore. The women had lifejackets on and did not suffer any injuries.
‘Kayaking requires constant awareness and good decision-making. Conditions can change quickly,’ Life Saving Victoria said.
In a third Christmas rescue, a 41-year-old man missing for about two hours was spotted by searchers on Lake King in Paynesville, east Gippsland, just before 3pm.
He was seen struggling before his kayak rolled, then picked up by the coastguard and returned unharmed to shore.
