Horror: Newly Married Woman Falls From A Cliff To Her Death While Jumping Up To Take A Photo

ADVERTISE HERE

ADVERTISE HERE

Horror: Newly Married Woman Falls From A Cliff To Her Death While Jumping Up To Take A Photo

Jolandi le Roux and her husband, Andrew, were celebrating her birthday just before she fell to her death

A wife plunged 500ft to her death from a cliff as she jumped for a birthday picture taken by her husband in South Africa.

Jolandi le Roux was celebrating her 31st birthday last Sunday evening high on the rocks at a Cape Town picnic spot and wanted to create a shot as if she was leaping over the sun.

However she lost her footing at Lookout Point and fell – with her body landing in a dead tree at the bottom of a gully.

Her panicked husband, Andrew, 33, found a way to scramble 100 metres down the treacherous 65-degree mountainside.

Rescuers say the experienced trail runner managed to get to within about nine metres of where Jolandi’s crumpled body was hanging, but no further.

Sheer cliffs stopped him from reaching her – and it took rescuers over three hours to get to her.

It then took them a further three hours in the dark and rain to get to the summit with her body.

She plunged 500ft to her death from a cliff as she jumped for a birthday picture

Andrew and Jolandi had got married on the beach below in September last year, and had often cycled and hiked in the nearby area.

It is thought the couple ignored warning signs to cross metal railing protective barrier designed to keep the public off a sloping cliff top of loose rocks and slippery gravel.

A sign there reads: “Caution! Strong winds and steep cliffs. Please stay behind the fence at all times.”

The first rescuer on the scene, paramedic Henry Barlow, 47, was shocked to find Andrew clinging onto the mountainside as he desperately tried to reach his wife.

He said: “He risked his life trying to reach his wife but couldn’t. It was heartbreaking but it would have been suicide to go any further.

“It was just cliffs and a 60-metre drop to the rocks and sea below us.”

Matthew Young, 33, an experienced rock climber and advanced trauma life support doctor, was tasked with getting Jolandi’s body.

He said: “It is not a nice place to be. The whole mountain is falling apart, literally. It’s ancient crumbling sandstone that breaks off easily.

“It’s by no means inspiring. Especially in the dark when all you’ve got is a headlamp.”

“Rocks were falling all around me. One of them was as big as a car engine. So we decided to swing me across to the other cliff side.”

The sheer cliff made bringing up Jolandi’s body difficult

As he reached Jolandi he could see she was dead – multiple head and body fractures had killed her as she plummeted down the cliff.

Andrew was told his wife had died, and the rescuers set about retrieving her body, which took another two hours.

Once Jolandi’s body had been brought up to the clifftop and placed in the mortuary van, her heartbroken father thanked rescuers for their efforts.

One added: “I thought that was very brave of him considering the complete nightmare they were going through.

“It made the long night worthwhile because it’s not every day that we get a thank you like that.”

Tributes for Jolandi poured in on social media where she was called a “beautiful person” and an “unbelievable woman, loved by many”.

Another friend described her as “bubbly and lived life to the full”.

 

ADVERTISE HERE

CLICK HERE TO COMMENT ON THIS POST

Do you find Naijafinix Blog Useful??

Click Here for Feedback and 5-Star Rating!



Be the first to comment

Share your thoughts

Your email address will not be published.