A group of mates from the New South Wales South Coast turned their holiday into a high-stakes rescue mission after a British BASE jumper was left stranded on a cliff in Thailand. The incident occurred on January 28 at Tonsai Beach in Krabi, where the jumper had leapt from a 150-metre-tall cliff but was slammed into the rocks halfway down after his parachute snagged.
The injured man, who suffered a compound fracture to his ankle and severe bleeding, was left on a narrow, sharp limestone ledge filled with cacti. The four Wollongong men—George Broadfoot, Finn Irving, Justin Pang, and James Harrington—along with local climber Hari Phongsopon, answered the call for help despite the dangerous conditions.
The rescue took five hours, with the team having to climb up the cliff and drill holes for rope hooks as they went, as the angle prevented abseiling. Broadfoot described the situation as a 'nightmare,' with intense heat and humidity adding to the difficulty. Once they reached the jumper, they bandaged his ankle and helped him descend.
Upon reaching the bottom, the crowd of tourists who had been watching cheered. Broadfoot, a science teacher, said the rescue was just something you do, but he noted that the incident highlights why BASE jumping is illegal in Thailand, due to the risks to both jumpers and onlookers.
