A woman who visited Snowdonia to get some fresh air after recovering from Covid ended up plunging down an 80ft waterfall, leaving her with life-threatening injuries.
Cara Sutton had to be airlifted to safety after suffering a fractured spine, broken pelvis, ribs and sternum in the accident, which took place in Coed-y-Brenin forest.
The 26-year-old pharmacist from Liverpool, who'd only just finished self-isolating, also punctured her lung in the fall.
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"My boyfriend James and I had already planned a trip to Wales in the van he'd done up and we'd got a few different hotels booked," she said.
"We were going to end up by the beach in Barmouth but then the accident happened - it was only my second day out of isolation.
"We were mountain biking and had stopped near a bridge to stretch our legs. We then decided to walk up the side of the waterfall nearby."
However, the steep incline proved slippery and Cara lost her footing, reports the Liverpool Echo.
"It sounds strange but I hadn’t actually got a proper concept of how high up I was, so at first I wasn’t too scared.
"But James had a better vantage point and could see what trouble I was in.
"He was desperately trying to reach me and I remember clinging on to some moss and trying to pull myself up.
"When it broke off and I just had this feeling of being dragged backwards.
"I didn’t even scream as I fell and I can't remember hitting the ground."
Luckily a doctor was also out walking nearby with his family and tended to Cara as she lay in the rocky ravine for around four hours before being winched to safety by the mountain rescue team.
She was then taken to the major trauma centre at Royal Stoke University Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent for treatment.
Cara was finally discharged in November last year - two and a half months later - and is still trying to regain he strength via regular physio.
Her ordeal was even featured an episode of My5's 999: Critical Condition, which aired last night (Thursday, January 20).
"I'm generally pretty well considering what I’ve been through and the other day I managed to walk 10k," she said.
"It’s absolutely amazing how well they were able to put me back together again."
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