ONE minute Matilda Campbell was reaching down to try and retrieve her phone, the next she was wedged in a deep rock crevice. Stuck between two boulders, her feet were in the air, one arm was wedged to her side and the other stuck above her head. The 23-year-old Newcastle woman was to spend the next seven hours pinned in this position amid a large-scale extraction operation in bushland at Laguna on Saturday October 12.
"The day of the rescue my friend Kieanna and I had decided to go for a walk as our other friends were sleeping [at our camp site]," she told Newcastle Herald.
"We saw these beautiful big rocks and decided to sit down to just talk and look at the scenery."
The two women put their phones down on the rock. Ms Campbell's phone slipped and she heard the noise of it hitting the rockface. Without thinking and while still chatting to her friend, she went to retrieve the phone from the gap it had landed in.
"It all happened so quickly that I don't recall how I managed to get stuck the way I did," she said.
"I do remember as soon as I looked around me there were two huntsman spiders about 30 centimetres away from my face, so I blew them away. My feet were dangling in the air but at that time I didn't realise I was stuck and was actually able to get my phone. When I tried to go back the way I came that's when I realised."
As Ms Campbell tried to wiggle her way out of the crevice, her friend also tried to reach her. It was becoming apparent that she was stuck. After 30 minutes the women decided to call for help. With no phone reception they attempted to call the SOS line and the secondary emergency line but could not get a call to go through.
"I did have a panic attack, I was crying whilst hyperventilating but thought to myself that if I'm going to be stuck here and not sure when I would get out, I had to keep myself calm. I just practised my breathing and managed to compose myself," Ms Campbell said.
The pair made a plan and friend Kieanna went to wake up the sleeping campers. The group attempted one more extraction before deciding to jump in the car and drive to a location with phone reception.
"Kieanna had remained near me to tell me what was going on and I'm not sure how much longer it was, but she told me that people were on their way to help," she said.
"Finally the paramedics got to the scene as well as police rescue. At the time of people coming to help I did not realise how severe the situation was."
While the arrival of emergency services was a relief for the young woman, it would be several more hours before the team of experts could get her out.
Police, paramedics, Rural Fire Service, police and ambulance rescue, and the Cessnock District Rescue Squad were called to the scene. They worked to remove several heavy boulders to create a safe access point, then a hardwood frame was built to ensure stability while rescuers worked.
NSW Ambulance specialist rescue paramedic Peter Watts said once both feet were accessible, the team faced the challenge of navigating Ms Campbell out through a tight S-bend over the course of an hour. Crew members tried to pass several bottles of water down the hole but they kept slipping into the crevice before she could drink any water. They tried to warm her with rugs, but there was no space between the rocks for the blankets.
"I knew it had been a while but I honestly didn't know how much time had passed," she said.
"Some of my thoughts were not good, as everything was going through my head. At one point I honestly thought I wasn't going to make it out."
Every time they managed to move her slightly, her body would graze against rocks. Her left side was fully pinned against the boulders and was painful, her feet were numb, but she said she just kept focusing on getting out.
"There were a few times as they were pulling me out that my shoulder had got stuck on a rock so they had to lower me back down and lift me from a different angle," she said.
"I just wanted to get out so I just saw past the pain."
It took a specialised winch to move a 500 kilogram boulder to eventually extract Ms Campbell, seven hours after she first became wedged between the rocks.
"When I finally opened my eyes and saw how many people were helping that's when I realised just how big the situation had been. I still had no feeling in my feet, they helped me get onto the stretcher."
She was treated at the scene before being taken to John Hunter Hospital in a stable condition. She suffered a fractured vertebrae, dehydration and major grazes across her body.
"In my 10 years as a rescue paramedic I had never encountered a job quite like this, it was challenging but incredibly rewarding," Mr Watts said in an initial statement from NSW Ambulance.
"Every agency had a role, and we all worked incredibly well together to achieve a good outcome for the patient."
Ms Campbell decided to speak out about her ordeal to thank the team of people who rescued her and to send a clear message to anyone thinking of doing something risky to retrieve a phone.
"Every single person who had a part in my rescue and my recovery has my eternal thanks. If it wasn't for all the agencies who came so swiftly to help me there is a chance I would not be here today. They saved my life.
"I also hope this is a good message for people not to put themselves in danger for a phone as I had done. No phone is worth the risk of your life."
The lost phone remains at the scene.
