LISTEN: Volunteers speak of narrow ledge rescue in Kloof gorge
Rescuers who pulled a man from the Kloof gorge this morning had to treat him on a ledge no more than half-a-metre wide.
Volunteers from Rescuetech clambered down to the man in the early hours of this morning.
They found him still conscious on the narrow ledge.
"It was literally just wide enough for the basket. The guys wedged the basket between a tree and a rock to keep it in place. They then had to move the patient with his fractures onto a spinal board and put the spinal board into the basket. It's precarious and it's dangerous because you end up having people attached to trees to make sure that they don't fall. They then support the basket and the load while the other medics are working," said Rescuetech's Nicholas Holmes.
He says the rescue was made even more challenging because the operation was initiated before sunrise.
Once placed on the basket, emergency services used a rope rescue system to pull the man up the cliff face.
He sustained serious injuries after being thrown from the top of the gorge last night.
NOW READ: Man rescued after being thrown off Kloof cliff
Police says the victim's hands had been bound behind his back with cable ties. Hillcrest SAPS are investigating a case of attempted murder.
Meanwhile, Blue Security's Andreas Mathios says security guards who'd responded to a separate incident heard the man's cries for help.
