Thomas fell from a cliff and recorded a goodbye to his family. Then, he heard a yell in the distance

The last time Thomas Kennedy met Libby Hanrahan, David Ipsen, Renne Heinrich and Leon Bush, he was fighting for life. The then-16-year-old had fallen 40m down a cliff along the Nepean River, near Penrith.

Kennedy had just arrived at the Nepean Narrows Lookout on September 29, 2015 when he ventured towards the edge for a better view.

That’s when the rock below him gave way, sending him falling the equivalent of 12 stories, hitting the rock face three times on the way down.

“Once I was down there, it was pretty scary. I knew I had cracked my head open, I knew that my wrist was broken, and my hip was dislocated,” Kennedy said.

In excruciating pain and with no mobile phone service, Kennedy knew he had to dig deep if he was going to survive.

“I was in the mindset that if I didn’t try, then I was just going to lay down and die.”

Manoeuvring his leg to attempt to pop his hip back into place, Kennedy remembers passing out from the pain multiple times.

“I was trying but the pain was overwhelming, I didn’t know how much more I could take.”

Believing this was the end, he took out his mobile phone and hit record.

“I recorded myself just saying goodbye to my family,” Kennedy said.

“I didn’t want to leave my family without something. I didn’t want them to think I jumped — it was just an accident.

“But I only made it halfway through when I was like, no I can’t do this. I’m not willing to say goodbye. So, I turned the video off.”

Still in shocking pain, he called out into the distance.

“I yelled out as best I could, and I couldn’t believe it when someone yelled back,” he said.

Two bushwalkers on a spontaneous trip heard the calls for help. One of them climbed down to be by his side, while the other called for rescuers.

When the call came through at the Ambulance Air Base in Bankstown, crews leapt into action.

“We knew it was a complex case in a complex location,” specialist paramedic David Ipsen remembered this week, as a now fully healed Kennedy reunited with his rescuers.

“We took some time to work out a plan, to keep Thomas alive, while also staying safe ourselves.”

Left with few other options, pilot Leon Bush kept the rescue helicopter hovering steady as specialist care helicopter paramedic Libby Hanrahan winched down. Taking note of his serious injuries, she couldn’t believe Kennedy was still conscious.

“Somehow, he had fallen from this huge height ... and he was talking to us, I still remember it all these years later,” she said.

Kennedy spent months in hospital recovering from his injuries. Almost 10 years on, he just had his last surgery — a hip replacement.

He says he is now “fit as a fiddle”.

But after a long physical recovery, and an even tougher mental battle, Kennedy has one piece of advice: “Don’t stand too close to the edge.”