"Glad to be alive": 12-year-old takes 20m tumble on Uluru climb
A 12-year-old girl has fallen at least 20 metres while climbing Uluru, two weeks before the iconic sandstone rock is closed to climbers.
The South Australian girl, who was travelling with her parents and younger brother, was reportedly descending from the summit of the 348-metre tall rock on Sunday when she lost her footing and fell.
The girl was then carried to the base of the rock and treated at the Yulara clinic before being flown by the Royal Flying Doctor Service to Alice Springs hospital.
“Apparently, it was about a 20 to 30-metre fall,” Troy Dicks, flight nurse with the RFDS told ABC.
“On the steep decline, she’s actually got a run up, she’s actually dived and rolled.”
Dicks said the 12-year-old suffered an ankle injury, a compound fracture on her finger and grazes.
“She apparently had a nasty finger injury that was dressed and cleaned,” Dicks said.
“It was a compound fracture. So there was bone showing.
“She also had an ankle injury. I’m not sure whether it was broken or not but it was certainly swollen and deformed.”
A spokesperson from the Alice Springs Hospital confirmed that the patient is in a stable condition.
Dicks said the patient was “surprisingly well and in good spirits”.
“She just realised how lucky she was and was very glad to be alive.”
Michael Misso, general manager at the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park told Sky News that park rangers are working hard to manage the visitors’ safety.
“Ultimately people need to take responsibility for their own actions and safety, but we give advice on how to stay safe from the base of the climb,” Misso said.