A teenager who broke her ankle and had to spend the night near the Myburgh Ravine was airlifted from the mountain on Monday June 26.
Wilderness Search and Rescue (WSAR) received a call at 6pm on Sunday, alerting them that four 16-year-old children required assistance on the mountains above Hout Bay. A team was deployed and the teenagers were located at about 9pm.
WSAR spokesperson, Johan Marais, said on arrival at the scene, medics ascertained that one girl had a broken ankle.
“In the meantime, more mountain rescuers had been called out and sent to the mountain. Since our assessment had shown the girl had not suffered a life-threatening injury, the deployment of a South African Air Force Oryx helicopter could not be approved,” he said.
A medic and more than four technical rescuers remained with the patient, along with her three friends.
At about 3am on Monday, a decision was taken to bring the uninjured teenagers down from the mountain, while rescue workers remained with the stricken girl. A decision was taken to airlift the girl to safety at sunrise, and the WSAR team spent the night with her on the mountain.
Shortly before 9am on Monday, a Skymed helicopter was dispatched to the scene from its base at Forest Station in Orangekloof. “The helicopter team then extracted the patient and medic in one go before returning to the scene to extract the other rescuers, two at a time,” Mr Marais said.
The injured girl, who was in good spirits, was later taken to hospital.
