A Glasgow man was taking pictures of the scenery after ascending on a hill at a popular tourist attraction before slipping and plunging down.
The hillwalker was climbing the Grey Mare's Tail, near Moffat, when he lost his footing on Saturday morning.
His friends alerted the authorities after he slipped and fell into a burn which swept him downstream before dropping him 15 metres over one of the upper waterfalls, the Daily Record reports.
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He was then carried along in the rushing water before managing to stop himself and a rescue operation sprang into action to get him to safety.
The injured Glaswegian sustained multiple injuries and was put onto a Rescue 199 helicopter and flown to the major trauma centre at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
Moffat Mountain Rescue Team leader James Coles told the Standard: “He is recovering well in hospital.”
Mr Coles said the fall was “a bit of bad luck” as the walker was with friends taking pictures of the panoramic views above the main waterfall – which plunges 60m from Loch Skeen – but slipped and ended up in the burn.
He said: “He was swept along the burn, then over the smaller waterfall, and was then swept further along the burn.”
“The friends alerted the Scottish Ambulance Service who mobilised Rescue 199 and Helimed Trauma Team helicopters to the location, as well as contacting Police Scotland who requested the assistance of the MMRT.”
Some members of team were already at their Moffat base preparing for probationer training so were able to respond quickly to the location.
Mr Coles added: “Given the complex terrain, the local Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was also asked to respond in order to help Moffat MMRT place the team’s specialist bridge and assist in the extraction of the casualty if the helicopter teams were unable to do so.
“Helimed arrived on location first, passing on a grid reference of the casualty location to MMRT who were then able to make their way to that location. Helimed then landed nearby.
“A winchperson from Rescue 199 extracted the casualty from the water to a safe location on the path, then joined by members of MMRT to assess the casualty.
“The casualty had sustained multiple injuries following a significant fall into the upper section of the waterfall.
“Pain relief was administered and the casualty was packaged in a vacuum mattress, casualty bag and stretcher before being winched to Rescue 199 with members of Moffat MMRT tending to the Hi-line to stabilise the stretcher during the winch.”
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