Woman Gets Trapped Upside Down After Trying to Retrieve Phone She Dropped. It Took 7 Hours to Rescue Her

Mar. 15, 2025

Hiker trapped upside down after trying to retrieve the phone she dropped.Photo:NSW Ambulance/Facebook

NSW Ambulance/Facebook

A 23-year-old woman who tried to retrieve her phone after it fell while she was hiking in Australia found herself between a rock and a hard place — not to mention upside down.

Matilda Campbell was hiking with friends in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales earlier this month when she dropped her phone and then slipped head-first into a nearly 10-foot-deep crevice,according to the New South Wales Ambulance serviceandABC News Australia.

Campbell’s friends called emergency services after they were unable to free her due to the “challenging” nature of how she was wedged between boulders.

Multiple agencies responded to the incident, where first responders worked for seven hours to free the woman.

“In my 10 years as a rescue paramedic I had never encountered a job quite like this," Peter Watts, with New South Wales Ambulance, said in the agency’s statement on Facebook. “It was challenging but incredibly rewarding.”

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Team works to rescue hiker.NSW Ambulance/Facebook

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

Emergency personnel moved several boulders, including a 1,000-lb. rock out of the way, and they placed a wooden frame around the woman to ensure that the rocks did not move during her rescue.

Eventually, Campbell emerged with bruises and minor scratches,the BBC reported.

Sadly, her phone was not as lucky.

source: people.com