Girl rescued after faling into cave shaft

At approximately Midday on the 6th of December 2007 Police were notified of an injured girl after she fell into an open shaft near Darkies Terrace, Charleston.
The girl aged 15yrs was part of a large school group who were exploring the area. She had ventured via a small cave into a larger vertical shaft, and had then fallen approximately two metres.
The fall broke her left leg, and local ambulance staff were called to the scene along with the Greymouth Solid Energy Rescue Helicopter.
Due to the location and nature of the incident the local Westport Fire Service were called in to assist in the extraction of the girl using rope rescue techniques.
She was lifted approximately 8metres up a near vertical slope to the surface and subsequently flown to hospital.
The injured girl was Buller High School student Ashley Tipping from Westport. She is now in a comfortable condition in hospital.