Man with two broken legs rescued after 30m cliff fall during coastal dog walk at Warrnambool

A man was rescued from a perilous position after plummeting from a 30m dune cliff this week.

He was walking three dogs along the coast at Levy’s Point Coastal Reserve in Warrnambool, in Victoria’s southwest, when the dogs ran down the dune, causing him to fall off the edge on Tueday morning.

The local man broke both his legs in the fall and called triple-0 at 7.53am, but the danger did not end there.

To one side of him, the towering dune was potentially at risk of a landslide, as waves crashed onto him from the other direction, “placing him in further danger,” Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV).

“Luckily the man had his phone on him, and was a local, so he was able to provide us with accurate information about his location.”

Victoria Police were the first to reach the man, and pull him away from the water.

FRV, Ambulance Victoria and the SES all parked at the closest car park and “loaded all equipment into the SES 6-wheel Polaris vehicle, which could drive off-road, driving as close as they could to the patient”, FRV said.

Crews then trekked through the sand and coastal scrub, carrying all the equipment, until they found the injured man.

“This was a potentially volatile situation that required emergency services to work together under significant time pressure,” FRV Commissioner Gavin Freeman

Paramedics loaded the man onto a stretcher and an Ambulance Victoria helicopter winched him out, as FRV crews looked after his three dogs.

FRV Acting Assistant chief fire officer Greg Kinross said: “This was an amazing example of all agencies working together, leading to a positive outcome for the patient.”

“Our thoughts are now with the patient and his family, and we wish him a speedy recovery.”