By XAVIER SMERDON
A BOXING Day fishing trip turned dangerous when a man was stranded half way up a cliff on the edge of the Werribee River.
First Lieutenant of the Werribee Fire Brigade, Darryl Wells, said the brigade’s rescue unit was called to assist Ambulance Victoria save the 51-year-old man.
“On arrival WFB Rescue crew found a 51-year-old male patient with a fractured ankle being treated by paramedics about 30 feet from the cliff top on a slight incline on a well used track that fishermen use to access the river frontage,” First Lt Wells said.
“The man had been fishing on the riverbank below the cliff when he fractured his ankle, his friends assisted him part way up the cliff before calling for an ambulance.”
Werribee Fire Brigade volunteer firefighters trained in low angle rope rescue quickly assembled a rescue stretcher and members wearing harnesses descended the river bank and secured the man.
SES members helped to bring the man safely to the top of the cliff where he was further treated by Paramedics and transferred to hospital.
