Young woman trapped upside down for seven hours in rock crevice when she tried to retrieve her phone is reunited with rescuers

The young woman trapped upside down for seven hours between two boulders has been reunited with her emergency workers who rescued her.

Matilda Campbell, 23, from Newcastle in NSW was bushwalking in the Hunter Valley earlier this month and became trapped as she tried to retrieve her mobile phone from the gap in the rocks.

Ms Campbell was reunited with her rescuers at the Rutherford Ambulance Station in Maitland north of Sydney on Tuesday.

‘I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for them so I’m really, really thankful and just appreciative of what services and amazing people we have,’ Ms Campbell told reporters.

The terrifying ordeal began when Ms Campbell’s phone slipped off a rock while she was sitting with a friend admiring the view.

But when she reach down to retrieve her device. she fell headfirst between the boulders in an awkward position and become lodged.

Ms Campbell unsuccessfully tried to wriggle back out but soon realised she was stuck.

Her feet were wedged between two large boulders and she hung upside down. 

First responder Jason Sattler told the ABC, ‘What we were faced with was just … soles of two feet and it just looked like they were levitating in air because she had dark pants on and it was quite dark in the crevice of the rock’

Friends spent about an hour trying to rescue Ms Campbell but eventually called for help.

NSW Ambulance Specialist Rescue Paramedic Peter Watts led a team that began by building a hardwood frame around the area before starting the arduous task of removing the rocks.

Photos of the rescue mission showed the soles of the Ms Campbell’s feet visible as she hung upside down inside the dark crevice.

Ms Campbell was stuck in a tight ‘S’ bend which prevented her being simply lifted out, and rescuers spent over an hour trying to navigate through the tight space.

‘The graze on my side was starting to hurt … and there was sticks in my hair, there was dirt everywhere, I could see spiders in the distance,’ she said.

‘It was very intense not being able to do anything with my body and realising I am truly, truly stuck.’

One of the first responders on the scene was from the Volunteer Rescue Association (VRA) Cessnock squad.

Jason Sattler told the ABC, ‘What we were faced with was just … soles of two feet and it just looked like they were levitating in air because she had dark pants on and it was quite dark in the crevice of the rock.’

Mr Sattler said if she had not been with a friend who alerted rescuers, the situation could easily have turned fatal through exposure to the elements and hunger.  

In a painstaking operation to gain access to Ms Campbell, crews had to remove seven boulders weighing between 80 to 500 kilograms

In a painstaking operation to gain access to Ms Campbell, crews had to remove seven boulders weighing between 80 to 500 kilograms.

Following her horrific ordeal, Ms Campbell spent three days in Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital.

She was treated for major grazing on her face, hip, back and shoulder and a fractured vertebra.

Ms Campbell said she was relatively lucky.

‘I could have hit my head, I could have broken a bone, I was really thankful I didn’t because that would have made trying to get me out that much harder,’ she said.

‘I can’t believe I didn’t get more injuries if I’m honest.’

Ms Campbell was philosophical about losing her phone.

‘Phones are replaceable, but your life isn’t,’ she said. 

Last week, Ms Campbell posted on social media thanking well wishers. 

‘i just wanted to say thank you to everyone from literally around the world messaging me to see they are glad that i am safe and well!’ Ms Campbell wrote. 

‘It means the world to me knowing I have such support from a very traumatic incident.’