A young woman has recalled her ‘date from hell’ after impaling her hand on a tree stump and being abandoned by her date on top of a mountain.
Sarah Wylie, 24, was left speechless when the man – who had pursued her online for three weeks – appeared more bothered by ensuring he got his bloodied sock back after the accident – than her welfare.
The disaster occurred after Sarah organised a romantic first date to climb a mountain at sunrise earlier this year.
Sarah Wylie, 24, was left speechless when the man – who had pursued her online for three weeks – appeared more bothered by ensuring he got his bloodied sock back after the accident – than her welfare
The disaster occurred after Sarah organised a romantic first date to climb a mountain at sunrise earlier this year
Sarah said she immediately got ‘bad vibes’ after meeting her mystery man but decided to follow through with their plans of hiking up the scenic Mount Tibrogargan, on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.
But during their descent down the mountain, disaster struck when Sarah suddenly slipped on a rock and began tumbling down the treacherous slope.
In a desperate attempt to save herself, Sarah grabbed onto a nearby tree stump – but horrifically impaled her hand.
And to make matters worse, her bemused date – who she has chosen not to name – left her at the top of the mountain as Sarah claims he ‘needed to get to work’.
Sarah also says that despite offering his sock to help stop the bleeding, he quickly asked for it back before heading off alone.
Thankfully Sarah was spotted by off-duty firefighters and was taken to hospital.
Sarah’s date offered his sock to stem the flow of blood before asking for it back and leaving her alone on the mountain
Thankfully Sarah was spotted by off-duty firefighters and was taken to hospital
‘It went into my palm and ripped all the way through to my middle finger. I knew straight away it was serious, as I could see the muscle fibres poking out of my hand.
The exercise physiologist said: ‘I’d been chatting with this guy who had got in touch with me online.
‘I didn’t want to meet up straight away, so I got to know him first and we talked for about three weeks.
‘Then we decided to climb a mountain together for our first date. It sounded like a really nice idea and something a little different.
‘As soon as I met up with him, I didn’t really get a good feeling from the very beginning. I could tell straight away it probably wasn’t going to work.
‘We had not even been together for an hour before the fall happened. My footing was off and I rolled my ankle and fell.
‘As I was falling, I looked behind me and noticed there was a tree stump so I tried to grab onto it. But instead, I impaled my hand.
‘It went into my palm and ripped all the way through to my middle finger. I knew straight away it was serious, as I could see the muscle fibres poking out of my hand.
‘I’d never seen so much blood in my life.’
‘I’d never seen so much blood in my life’ Sarah said after her fall.
Covered in blood and frozen with fear, Sarah pleaded with her date to help rip off her singlet in order to make a tourniquet for her hand – but instead, he gave her his sock.
Miraculously, a team of off-duty firefighters who were also mountain climbing at the same time had witnessed the accident and thankfully came to Sarah’s rescue.
As she drifted in and out of consciousness, Sarah’s date decided it was the perfect time to make a swift getaway – but not without his bloodied sock.
Sarah said: ‘He had absolutely no idea what to do. I could see he wanted nothing to do with the whole situation.
‘He was rolling his eyes and kept walking up and down the mountain trying to get reception on his mobile phone, so that he could call his work.
‘He was frustrated that he couldn’t get through to them. So as I was nearly passing out, he came over to me and said he had to go because he needed to go to work and had a lot of meetings.
It took Sarah three hours to be rescued from the ditch she was in and taken to hospital
‘This was only 10 or 15 minutes after I fell. He couldn’t wait to get out of there.
‘After I fell initially, I saw so much blood on my hand and asked him to help me take my singlet off to stop the bleeding.
‘But instead he just took his sock off.
‘So I just used that until the fireman wrapped a proper bandage around my hand.
‘But the most shocking part was that he actually asked for the sock back before he left.
‘At this point I was going in and out of consciousness, but all he cared about was his sock, which by then was completely covered in blood.
‘I was absolutely shocked at his behaviour. The firefighters with me couldn’t believe that he just got up and left too.’
It took another three hours for Sarah to be abseiled down the mountain – which the young woman said was one of the ‘most traumatic experiences’ of her life.
Sarah needed urgent surgery for her horrific injuries, which left her with 22 stitches – while also temporarily losing all use of her dominant hand.
And while she recovered in hospital, Sarah received ‘bizarre’ text messages from her date – who later blocked her on all social media platforms.
Sarah needed urgent surgery for her horrific injuries, which left her with 22 stitches – while also temporarily losing all use of her dominant hand.
And while she recovered in hospital, Sarah received ‘bizarre’ text messages from her date – who later blocked her on all social media platforms.
She said: ‘He asked me to send him photographs of my hand, which I did. He told me it looked like a zombie hand, as if this was a cool thing.
‘He also reassured me that my bum looked great when I was hiking up the mountain.
‘Then he told me that he got bitten by a bug as he made his way back down, and that it really hurt. He said this would make me feel better.
‘The next day, a local radio station had reported on my story and said it happened while I was on a date. He then promptly sent me another text to tell me that this was in fact, not a date at all.
‘After that, he blocked me on social media, and I’ve never heard from him again.
‘I’ve been told by a few mutual friends that he actually has a long -term girlfriend. I’m not sure if this is true, but it certainly explains his behaviour.’
‘I’ve been told by a few mutual friends that he actually has a long -term girlfriend. I’m not sure if this is true, but it certainly explains his behaviour.’
The harrowing experience has a left the young woman with permanent nerve damage and scarring on her right hand.
And on top of the physical injuries, Sarah now has to see a psychologist due to the damaging mental aftermath of the traumatic event.
She said: ‘It’s just been a complete nightmare. The amount of physical, financial and emotional drain this has caused me is unbelievable.
‘I cannot fathom that a human being could do that in this day and age. It is just disgusting behaviour.
‘Although I barely knew him, it would have been such a great help if he had just stayed with me, so that there would be at least one familiar face.
‘But I was completely alone, which just added to the trauma.
‘I haven’t been on any more dates since it all happened.
‘I just want to focus on myself and career right now.’