http://www.illawarramercury.com/article ... 55159.html
Missionary survives plunge
By MEGAN LEVY, LES KENNEDY and DAVID CRAWSHAW
June 25, 2004
MATTHEW WEIRICH
NAKED but for a T-shirt and a pair of socks, American missionary Matthew Weirich spent almost 20 hours lying injured in near freezing conditions before he was found.
The young man had plunged 70m down a cliff face at Bundanoon on Wednesday afternoon and, when a search was called off that night, rescuers held little hope for his survival.
But at 9.30am yesterday, they were dumbfounded when they discovered the 20-year-old alive at the base of the Grand Canyon Lookout.
Throughout the night, he had crawled 40m with serious injuries before finally collapsing face down on a hill.
Matthew's father Rick, speaking from the United States, credited his amazing survival to the All American pole vault champion's physical fitness, and his faith in God.
"It's a miracle, we feel it is a blessing from our heavenly father," Mr Weirich said from his home in the central Texan town of Fredericksburg.
Matthew's family endured an agonising wait and had begun to fear that he might not survive before they heard he had been rescued and was recovering in Wollongong Hospital.
The young missionary had been bushwalking with three friends in the Morton National Park about 2pm on Wednesday when disaster struck.
He had been trying to retrieve a lost shoe near the lookout when he slipped, falling over the edge into dense bushland 70m below.
His friends did not see him fall, but heard him cry out. When they turned around, he was gone.
A large scale search-and-rescue mission was mounted on Wednesday afternoon, but was called off at 7pm.
Yesterday morning rescuers found Mr Weirich's shoe and pants, which he is believed to have taken off in a semi-delirious state.
They followed the trail he had made by crawling along the ground, and found him semi-conscious in thick scrub.
He had suffered a head injury and hypothermia. Westpac Rescue Helicopter paramedic Bob Lisle, who treated him at the scene, said he was found wearing only a T-shirt and a pair of socks bearing the Australian flag.
"Everyone was very surprised when he was found. We were very surprised at his good condition, considering he had been all night at the bottom of a cliff. We expected a lot worse," he said.
Mr Weirich was serious but stable in Wollongong Hospital's intensive care unit last night.
After he was found yesterday, the Westpac Life Saver 1 Rescue Helicopter winched down Mr Lisle and Dr Michele Franks, who spent one hour stabilising him on the ground.
"He was lying downhill, with his head below his feet and his face down like he had been crawling, with no pants on.
"Considering the conditions (overnight), he had very stable observations, good blood pressure and I could feel a pulse, but he was making incomprehensible sounds," Dr Franks said.
"We don't think he has fallen straight down the cliff. His fall has been broken by something, such as hitting a ledge on the way down.
"In his combative state he was not allowing us to treat him so we had to anesthetise him."
His parents were last night on a flight to Sydney to be with their son. His father said after receiving the news Matthew was missing, the family gathered for a prayer.
Then 20 hours into their vigil came the news that he had survived.
"The news was unreal. We were told that he was awake when they found him. He was conscious but delirious. It's a miracle, we feel it is a great blessing."
...onto a crummy pit! Doctors still do not understand athlete's bodies. Jodie's gymnastics coaches continually would see kids recuperate much, much sooner and to a much better extent than the doctors would predict. As her coach would say, athletes are in the top 1% of people as far as physical fitness. 