A 59-year-old man is recovering in hospital following a dramatic cliff rescue at Freshwater this morning.
Emergency services were called to Harry Elliffe Way, just off Lumsdaine Drive near Harbord Diggers, shortly after 9am on Wednesday, 11 March, after reports a man had fallen from a cliffside location.
The incident occurred when the man slipped on grass adjacent to the boardwalk, causing him to trip and tumble several metres down the steep cliff face onto the rocks below.
The rescue operation proved challenging due to powerful swells washing over the rocks and an incoming tide, requiring coordination between multiple emergency services including NSW Police, Northern Beaches Police Inspector Vanessa Robinson, and the specialist vertical rescue crew from Fire and Rescue NSW Narrabeen Station.
Seven NSW Ambulance crews attended the scene, including Intensive Care Paramedics, Special Operations Paramedics and NSW Ambulance Inspector Carolyn Parish. The Toll NSW Ambulance Rescue Helicopter was also dispatched to assist.
First responders were able to communicate with the injured man from the boardwalk above. He informed them he had sustained injuries in the fall, including a head injury.
By 9.30am, an initial team of police and paramedics had carefully descended the rock ledge to reach the man, who was found to have a serious head injury and was experiencing breathing difficulties.
The Toll NSW Ambulance Rescue Helicopter arrived just after 9.45am, winching a trauma doctor and critical care paramedic directly to the location whilst specialist vertical rescue firefighters established an Arizona Vortex A-frame rope system above.
Medical teams treated the man at the scene for an open head injury, providing a blood transfusion and addressing injuries to his left side, including suspected fractured ribs and an injured hand. Additional oxygen supplies and a stokes litter were lowered to the rescue site.
With waves continuing to wash onto the rock platform, rescuers carefully secured the man in the stokes litter. He was hauled up the cliff face by firefighters just before 10.45am, accompanied by a Special Operations Paramedic.
The man was transported by ambulance to Royal North Shore Hospital in a serious but stable condition shortly after 11am, with the aeromedical team accompanying him.
The incoming tide prevented remaining rescuers from safely walking out from the base of the cliff, requiring firefighters to haul out equipment and personnel. All rescuers were back at the top by 11.15am.
Published 11-March-2026
