Cliff climber was photographed seconds before 30ft Whaligoe fall
A climber who suffered serious injuries in a 30ft fall at Whaligoe Steps is lucky to be alive, according to the holidaymaker who called the emergency services.
Jakobus Fourie was visiting the historic site on the east coast of Caithness with his wife Yolande and photographed the climber seconds before he lost his footing and tumbled down one of the steep cliffs. The climber appeared not to have been using ropes or other protective equipment.
The incident, early on Thursday afternoon, led to a multi-agency response involving HM Coastguard teams from Wick and Scrabster, the Scottish Ambulance Service and Wick RNLI.
The casualty was understood to have suffered a suspected broken ankle, a suspected broken pelvis and a leg injury.
Mr Fourie said: “My wife and I were there when this incident happened. I saw the person climbing the rocks and thought that he must be crazy.
“I took a photo of him as he was climbing.
“He nearly fell on top of my wife as we were on our way down and hit my wife with his leg on the fall.
“His two friends could not call the emergency services as there was no connection at the bottom of the steps. I then went back up the steps and called them from my phone.
“He can consider himself lucky to be alive, and we are very glad that he is.”
The couple, who moved to the UK from South Africa in 2015, were exploring the North Coast 500 tourist route. They returned to London at the end of the week.
The Wick lifeboat Roy Barker II was launched about 1pm on Thursday and returned to port around 3.30pm.
The crew used the daughter XP-class boat to get close to the scene at Whaligoe Haven and took the casualty out to the lifeboat. A paramedic had already been taken aboard.
Wick lifeboat coxswain Allan Lipp said: “The ambulance was tasked first and the coastguard was then tasked to assist with the recovery. Somebody quite far down at Whaligoe Steps had fallen 30 feet.
“We were tasked initially just to do a safety cover for the coastguard team so they could effect a rescue, but there was a bit of communication with us all and the decision was we would do a boat rescue rather than trying to carry the person back up the cliff or steps.
“We took the paramedic out first, so there was always somebody from the ambulance there, which was quite important, and we took them back here.”
A spokesman for HM Coastguard said: “HM Coastguard was called to assist the Scottish Ambulance Service with a casualty at Whaligoe Steps in Caithness. Coastguard rescue teams from Wick and Scrabster were sent to the scene, alongside RNLI Wick lifeboat.
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“The casualty was extricated by lifeboat and conveyed to Wick harbour, where they were put into the care of the ambulance service.”
Whaligoe has approximately 330 stone steps leading down to a naturally formed harbour between 250ft cliffs. It has become a popular attraction for NC500 travellers.
