Cliffhanging woman saved by gorse bush

Photo / File

A woman was rescued hanging by one hand from a gorse bush 20m above an Auckland beach yesterday.

Two rescue helicopters, two fire engines and police were called to St Leonards Rd behind Takapuna Grammar School after the woman slipped part way down the cliff and was heard yelling for help.

Devonport Fire Station Officer John Ellington said the crew were called to the incident about 5pm.

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"We arrived shortly after that and found her about 5m down the cliff," he said. "She was clinging onto a gorse bush by one hand and sort of lying on her back on a fairly steep part of the cliff.

"It was not vertical, but definitely not horizontal, and she was just hanging there."

He said the beach was 20m below, and hundreds of onlookers were watching the drama unfold as firefighters tried to reach the woman from the top of the cliff. "We used abseiling gear to get a crew member down the cliff to secure her and then pulled them both back up."