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The throb of helicopter and plane engines above Rotary Way alerted residents below to the drama playing out in a four hour mountain rescue after a paraglider, flying tandem with a British tourist, crashed into the cliff on Monday morning.

Minutes after paraglider Rob de Villiers Roux (33), from The Air Team of Cape Town, and his passenger, Diane Miller (34), a visitor from England, slammed onto a rocky ridge by a gust of wind, a call for help was received at 10:15 by the ER24 emergency medical care control centre.

Joe Schoeman, branch manager of the Hermanus branch of ER24 realised they didn't have the required equipment and immediately called the Metro Ambulance Services and a Wilderness Search and Rescue (WASAR) team was activated with teams responding from Hermanus, Caledon and Bredasdorp. De Villiers Roux was helped to the top of Rotary Way where he waited while rescue workers set up safety lines to secure Miller, who is reported to have broken legs with possible back injuries and suspected internal bleeding. She was sedated and stabilised by a doctor and paramedics from ER24 and eventually secured in a basket stretcher prior to the airlift.

According to De Villiers, Roux who has been flying paragliders for 15 years, the wind was coming up the mountain at a bit of an angle and he decided to wait for it to change. Once it was scraping directly up the mountain he and his passenger took off. Everything was fine, when from nowhere a strong gust caused a 90% collapse of the canopy which swung them into the cliff.

“I'm probably the most experienced pilot in the country but this was completely out of my control - in the 15 years I've been doing this I've never hurt anyone,” he said the next day.

Miller's ordeal on the mountain lasted almost four hours because an Oryx helicopter from Ysterplaat Airforce base in Cape Town had to be called as the Skymed medical helicopter was out of commission and a Nokia helicopter at the scene could not hoist the patient off the mountain.

When the Oryx arrived it became obvious that the patient had to be lowered at least another 15 m to a ledge so that the aircraft could execute a clean lift.

Instructions were sent via radio to the rescue workers from the ridge on the mountain who had belay and stabilising ropes attached to the winches of rescue vehicles with wheels planted firmly in the fynbos. Painstakingly the stretcher, with its patient in it, was gently lowered the required distance as spectators who had driven up to find out what was happening, craned futilely to see over the steep edge.

Once the stretcher was in place the helicopter hoisted the patient on board in a clean lift and took her down to the cricket field where she was immediately transferred to the medical helicopter that took her directly to a hospital in Cape Town where her fiancé was waiting.

Despite the delay caused by the wait for the Oryx, the rescue was described as good by Reinhard Geldenhuys, chief fire officer/disaster management, Overberg district municipality. The rescue operation with about 15 rescue team members from the various services was co-ordinated by Geldenhuys and Johan Niemand from Metro Ambulance Services. Attempts to contact Miller or her fiancé at the Vincent Palotti Hospital for comment were unsuccessful at the time of going to press.

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