CLIMBER SAVED

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29778, 22 March 1962, Page 6

CLIMBER SAVED

Hazardous Rescue (N.Z. Press Assn.—Copyright) SYDNEY. March 20. A Sydney medical student, Russell Kippax, climbed 100 ft up a hazardous perpendicular Blue Mountains rock face carrying a seriously injured student on his back to help bring the student to safety yesterday. Rescuers then brought the student 1500 ft up and out of the rugged valley. The injured man. Richard Donaghey, aged 20, had been lying in the valley since Saturday evening. Kippax recently returned from Dutch New Guinea, where he was one of a fourman expedition which climbed the Carstenz Pyramid. Donaghey had slipped on a wet rock and tumbled 20ft down a cliff, landing in a creek. He broke the shinbone of his right leg. several smaller bones in his left foot, cut his chin and sprained his right wrist. In bed today. Donaghey said: “Kippax is in the superman class.

“When he arrived yesterday morning he had a yarn with me and studied the position I had never seen him before but I soon realised he knew what he was doing. I had complete confidence in him from the-word ‘go.’ “They tied a rope sling around me and roped me on to Russell’s back and he started up the cliff. The rock face was slippery and he hung on to the thin rope with one hand and used the other hand and his feet. “I don’t mind saying I had a few butterflies. It was a mighty drop below, but I just kept quiet while Russell did the work.”