Woman breaks silence after being stuck between boulders for seven hours after attempting to retrieve phone in NSW Hunter Valley

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Woman breaks silence after being stuck between boulders for seven hours after attempting to retrieve phone in NSW Hunter Valley

A young woman who spent seven hours hanging upside-down by her feet when she fell head-first into a deep crevice between two boulders in the

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Hunter Valley region has spoken of the horrific ordeal.

Matilda Campbell, 23, said she was away with friends on October 12 in Laguna, about a 30-minute drive from Cessnock, when she dropped her phone between two huge rocks.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: A bushwalker has been reunited with her rescuers.

Her friends tried in vain for some time to free her before hiking out to find phone reception to call triple-0 for help.

Paramedics had to move the boulders using a specialist winch to reach the Newcastle local who had been trying to retrieve her dropped phone, before facing the tricky task of “navigating” her out from her precarious position.

Camera IconThe young woman fell head-first into a deep crevice as she tried to retrieve her phone. Credit: 7NEWS

Campbell has since spoken of the ordeal as she recovers from minor injuries, explaining she was with a group of friends enjoying a weekend away to celebrate a birthday when a few of them decided to go on a bush walk.

“We wanted to see nature … and we saw these beautiful rocks so we sat there … and then my friend had my phone and it slipped off the rock,” she told 7NEWS.

“And I thought oh no I’m still paying off that phone I need it … so I ventured down and thought I was Bear Grylls … and I slipped head first into the crevice where I was stuck for seven hours.

“I didn’t freak out at the start … it took me about half an hour to realise I was fully stuck and then I started to have a big cry.

“I’m very thankful I was with my friends, otherwise it would have been a very different story.”

Campbell has since been reunited with her rescuers, to whom she says she owes her life.

“I’m just thankful to see them again … I wouldn’t be here today without them,” she said.

“So, I’m really thankful.”

Meanwhile, specialist rescue paramedic Peter Watts said the rescue was “challenging but incredibly rewarding”.

“In my 10 years as a rescue paramedic, I had never encountered a job quite like this,” he said at the time.

data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconA multidisciplinary team removed several heavy boulders, using a specialised winch to move one 500kg boulder. Credit: NSW Ambulancedata:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==Camera IconA hardwood frame was built to ensure stability while rescuers worked. Credit: NSW Ambulance

NSW Ambulance said a “multi-disciplinary team” was sent in and had to remove several heavy boulders, using a specialised winch to move one 500kg boulder, to create a safe access point to reach the woman.

A hardwood frame was built to ensure stability of the area — and the woman — while the rescuers worked.

After removing the boulders and “with both feet now accessible”, the team then faced the challenge of “navigating the patient out through a tight S-bend”.

That process alone also took an hour.

In total, the woman spent seven hours hanging upside-down before she was freed — with only minor scratches and bruises but still without her phone, which could not be retrieved.

NSW Ambulance hailed the achievements of the rescue team in safely extracting the woman from her precarious predicament.

“Every agency had a role, and we all worked incredibly well together to achieve a good outcome for the patient,” Watts said.

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