Family grieve ‘brilliant’ student who fell to death from Manly cliff

A tight-knit family has been left devastated after a ‘brilliant’ engineering student fell to her death while on a sunrise bushwalk with her friend.   

Annika Ferry, 21, fell near a World War Two bunker in Blue Fish Point, in Sydney’s North Head about 6am on Wednesday.

Her friend, who was also 21, desperately tried to perform CPR while waiting for emergency services to arrive. 

Ms Ferry was a Dean’s Honour List recipient at the University of New South Wales in 2019, where she was studying renewable energy engineering.

Ms Ferry (pictured with her dad) had been studying engineering at the University of New South Wales

She grew up in a a well-to-do family from Sydney’s affluent northern beaches and completed her HSC at the prestigious Queenswood School for Girls in Mosman, where fees cost up to $26,000-a-year.

The 21-year-old also completed an entrepreneurship program in Scandinavia.

Ms Ferry, whose father Jim Ferry is a prominent obstetrician and gynaecologist in Manly, was likely visiting a known ‘selfie’ spot in the minutes leading to her death.

She and her friend had trekked through dense bushland from about 5.30am and were near a spot popular with sightseers trying to get the perfect sunrise snap when emergency services were called.   

Paramedics trekked hundreds of metres through the bush to reach Ms Ferry, but by the time they arrived, it was too late to save her.

Annika Ferry had been walking with her friend in the dark during a bushwalk

Annika Ferry, 21, died on Wednesday morning after falling while on a bushwalk with her friend

Police arrived at the scene shortly after and found Ms Ferry with severe head injuries. 

Harrowing footage from the scene showed Ms Ferry’s distraught friend clutching onto paramedics as she was taken to hospital, where she was treated for shock. 

Northern Beaches Police Area Command duty officer Stuart Byrnes said Ms Ferry’s friend was ‘not doing too well’.  

He admitted detectives were still gathering the facts about the fall, but described the death as a ‘very sad accident’.

‘There was only two people there, and one of them has gone to hospital in shock, we’re still trying to get to the bottom to the lead-up of it all,’ he told reporters.

‘We believe it was a very sad accident and our thoughts go out to the family, but it’s the subject of an investigation at the moment.’

Annika Ferry fell near a World War Two bunker in Blue Fish Point, in Sydney’s North Head around 6am on Wednesday

Ms Ferry was likely visiting a known ‘selfie’ spot in the minutes leading to her death

Acting Inspector Byrnes described the terrain at North Head as ‘inhospitable’, which further delayed Wednesday’s operation.

‘It’s not easily accessible, it was extremely difficult,’ he said. ‘We’ve had to use helicopters as part of the operation.’ 

An employee at North Head agreed, telling Sydney Morning Herald the terrain was difficult to manage on the best of days.

He said he often gets stopped and asked for directions to the nearby tidal pools – which are frequented by adventurers looking for a selfie – and that he warns them of the risks.  

‘I always tell them how to get there, but I tell them not to go. It’s very dangerous,’ he said. 

Police continue to investigate the lead up to Ms Ferry’s death and a report is being prepared for the coroner.  

Footage shows Ms Ferry’s distraught friend clutching onto police officers as she is taken to hospital to be treated for shock

Police Officer Stuart Byrnes speaking to media after Ms Ferry’s body was found