A woman has been airlifted to hospital after she was injured while jumping from a cliff into the sea in Co Clare this afternoon.
The alarm was raised at around 1.30pm when emergency services received a report of a person falling from a cliff near Miltown Malbay.
It later transpired however that the woman, reported to be in her 30s, had been jumping into the sea with friends when she was injured. She’s understood to have jumped around 10 metres (33 feet) when she got into difficulty.
According to eyewitnesses, the woman landed on her back after jumping from the cliff. A number of people who were with her at the time managed to pull her from the water and onto a stone ledge while also raising the alarm.
Watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard’s marine rescue sub centre on Valentia Island in Kerry were alerted and mounted a multi-agency rescue operation.
Members of the Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard were tasked along with the Shannon-based Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115.
National Ambulance Service (NAS) paramedics and Coast Guard volunteers were able to make their down onto the rocks where the casualty was located. Paramedics assessed and treated the patient before handing her into the care of the helicopter crew.
Rescue 115’s winchman/paramedic was winched down to the scene and, assisted by NAS and Coast Guard personnel, prepared the woman to be airlifted to hospital.
About an hour after the incident occurred, the injured woman was winched on board the helicopter and flown the 10-minute journey to University Hospital Galway for treatment.
Her injuries were initially said to be serious but not life-threatening.