Monray's life 'hung from tree'
2005-04-28 22:38
CapeTown - The cartoon of a man hanging by his braces from the branch of a tree over a deep canyon almost came true for Monray Alcock, 20, of Muizenberg.
Luckily for Monray, the branch he grabbed after slipping and falling about 20m on Table Mountain, did not give way and probably saved his life.
He is recuperating in Vincent Pallotti Hospital, Cape Town, after his ordeal while on a hike on Wednesday afternoon.
Monray was on a youth hike with the Pentecost Church on the Skeleton Gorge trail when he slipped and fell.
He grabbed at fresh air, then found a handhold on the branch of a tree and hung on for dear life.
Hospital staff regard it as "a miracle wrought by angels" that he did not lose his life.
Susan Scholtz, marketing manager of the hospital, said Monray had head, leg and back injuries, but was in a stable condition.
Went up by cableway
Monray, who will be 21 shortly, said - from the restful atmosphere of his hospital bed - he was looking forward to the peace and quiet enforced by his injuries.
He told Die Burger that he and friends went up the mountain by cableway.
The accident happened when he and his friends took a wrong turning in Skeleton Gorge, which is one of the most-difficult hiking trails.
Monray said: "I fell about six storeys or thereabouts.
"If it had not been for the branch that broke my fall everything would probably have been over for me.
"We were on the last leg of the route when I slipped and fell, then rolled down the mountain.
"I bumped against many rocks and my face was covered in blood after the nightmare."
Hanging on the branch he could see nothing but treetops and shrubbery below him.
Hoisted aboard a helicopter
"However, my friends reached me soon and shouted for aid while one of them used his cellphone to get help.
According to Dion Tromp, manager of Wilderness Search-and-Rescue, their members and metro emergency services reached the spot quickly and Monray was taken on a stretcher for about 50m to a clearing.
From there, a SkyMed helicopter hoisted him aboard through a gap in the trees.
Monray said he lost consciousness from time to time, but the adrenaline was pumping in spite of a painful shoulder.
This was not his first experience of a hiking trail, he emphasised.