Incredible moment girl, 15, clinging for life to a tree in a raging river after falling out of her kayak is airlifted to safety by police helicopter
Dramatic footage has been released of the daring rescue of a stranded teenage girl trapped in a tree in a flood-swollen river at the foot of Sydney's Blue Mountains.
The 15-year old had been out for a kayak adventure with her father when she fell out the canoe into the cold dark waters of the Nepean River on Saturday afternoon.
She was swept away by the current but managed to grab onto a tree in the middle of the river - swollen by last week's torrential rain - where she was became stuck with no escape.
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Dramatic footage has been released of the daring rescue of a stranded teenage girl trapped in a tree in a flood-swollen river at the foot of Sydney's Blue Mountains
Her frantic father desperately tried to rescue her with his kayak but called in emergency services when the fast-flowing water and hazards in the water meant he was unable to get close enough to reach her.
NSW Police scrambled their rescue helicopter crew around 5pm and on Wednesday released the amazing video of the incident.
It shows the police chopper team racing to the scene near Emu Plains in a desperate bid to reach the girl before sunset and darkness hamper the search for her.
The police rescue helicopter raced to the scene near Emu Plains in a desperate bid to reach the girl before sunset and darkness hamper the search for her
Incredibly they managed to spot her through the thick foliage and branches, clinging to the branches of a fallen tree, and begin the rescue mission
Incredibly they manage to spot her through the thick foliage and branches, clinging to the branches of a fallen tree, and begin the rescue mission as dusk fell.
An officer in frogman gear is winched down several hundred feet, dizzily spinning in the wind as he drops, before splashing into the water and swimming against the current to the shivering, terrified girl.
An officer in frogman gear is seen here being winched down several hundred feet to the river below where the girl was trapped
The specially trained rescue specialist can be seen spinning dizzily in the wind and backdraft fro the heicopter rotor blades as he drops down
He managed to strap the girl into the rescue harness before the pair are winched back up high into the air to the safety of the helicopter.
She can be seen clinging to the police officer in fear as he gently manoeuvres her through the helicopter hatch and inside to the sanctuary of the aircraft.
The rescue operative swam through the flood-swollen river to reach the girl and managed to strap her into the rescue harness
The pair are seen here being winched back up high into the air to the safety of the helicopter
The chopper then immediately flies to a nearby landing zone where the girl's distraught father was waiting for the pair to be reunited before she was assessed by paramedics at the scene.
A NSW Police spokesman added: ' The girl was flown to a waiting NSW Ambulance a short distance away and assessed by paramedics. She was uninjured.'
The teenager can be seen clinging to the police officer in fear as he gently manoeuvres her through the helicopter hatch and inside to the sanctuary of the aircraft
The chopper immediately flies to a nearby landing zone where paramedics and the girl's father were waiting