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Girl survives 45-metre fall

Martin Wainwright

"She is a miracle child; must be made of rubber"

LONDON: A six-year-old girl was discharged from hospital in the U.K. on Friday after suffering only minor injuries in a fall of more than 45 metres from notoriously dangerous sea cliffs.

Rescuers who arrived by inshore lifeboat to find Demi-Leigh Tweddle sitting dazed on a shingle beach at Chimney Hole near Filey, North Yorkshire, described her as a "miracle child who must be made of rubber."

She plunged from a fenced-off area of rough grass near the Blue Dolphin caravan park where she and her family from Middlesbrough were on holiday. The strip of crumbling land, which also has warnings about the danger of unstable and steep ground, is where another holidaymaker, Terri Ann Ellwood (16) from Peterlee, County Durham, fell to her death two years ago.

Demi-Leigh was with her parents at the time of the incident and her mother Susan rang 999 while her father scrambled down a gentler stretch of cliff to try to reach the child. A Royal Air Force helicopter was scrambled and the girl was flown to Scarborough hospital.

One of the three crew on the lifeboat said: "She was holding her arm and complaining of pains in her side, but she was very lucky. She had cuts and bruises but it is incredible she was not hurt even more."

A member of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: "This girl is a miracle child. She must be made of rubber to have survived a fall of this height. Her parents were understandably still in shock but they must be awfully relieved."

There have been previous warnings about taking extreme care at cliff edges on the Yorkshire coast.

Many stretches are not only precipitous but constantly subject to erosion, which can cause large sections to break away and crash on to the beaches below.

"This accident demonstrates the need for constant vigilance when near to cliff edges," an official said. "The views in this location are magnificent but they are better viewed from a safe distance. The father's actions in going down the cliff were entirely understandable but we would caution against taking such risks with the potential for a second casualty. We wish this young girl a speedy recovery but it is sad that the family will remember their holiday at Filey for all the wrong reasons."

- Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005

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