A 20-year-old woman was rescued from the Robberg Nature Reserve near Plettenberg Bay after she was injured in a fall while running on a hiking trail.
The National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) Plettenberg Bay was activated at around 15:30 on Saturday, following reports of an injured woman near Fountain Shack.
An NSRI crew member who was already on Robberg reached the woman, who was visiting the area from Durban and had been running with local friends over the long weekend.
Her injuries were stabilised at the scene while rescuers considered the safest way to evacuate her.
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Challenging sea conditions
Initially, NSRI considered placing the woman in a stretcher and carrying her along the hiking trail to the car park. However, rescuers estimated that this would take considerable time.
At the same time, the heavy sea conditions made a rescue-craft extraction challenging.
NSRI crews investigated possible landing points at East Beach, Island Beach and Agterstrand before deciding that a boat evacuation was the safest option.
Additional rescuers responded to the NSRI Plettenberg Bay base, where the Spirit of Pilatus and Rescue Plett rescue craft were launched.
Despite 2 to 3 metre swells and 15-knot south-westerly winds, the crews managed to safely beach the rescue craft at Robberg Nature Reserve.
Medical treatment
An NSRI team then carried a Stokes basket stretcher to the injured woman, secured her inside it and transported her to the waiting rescue craft.
She was brought safely back to the NSRI rescue base without further incident.
The woman’s friends then transported her to hospital, where she received medical treatment for her injuries.
NSRI said she was later released from hospital and required no further medical care.
The rescue highlights the challenges faced by emergency crews operating along the rugged Robberg coastline, particularly when heavy swells and strong winds make access by sea difficult.
